Pop stars and actresses Carly Rae Jepsen and Vanessa Hudgens teamed up for Sunday night’s Grease: Live!, Fox’s live television remake of the 1978 sing-along classic.
Carly Rae Jepsen shone as Frenchy, the Beauty School Dropout originally portrayed by Didi Conn who also appeared on the show as a wise waitress. The Canadian singer seemed to have the time of her life on set; beside bonded with peers like Hudgens and Julianna Hough (whose photo Jepsen captioned “My heroes! These women… And all the cast and crew of @gogrease have me beaming with pride!” on Instagram), she became close with Conn and received an inspiring set of gifts from the 64-year-old actress that would make any Grease fans jealous.
Jepsen’s fellow Pink Lady and High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens boldly took on the role of Rizzo. Boldly, we say, not because Rizzo is, well, Rizzo but because only hours before the live broadcast, Hudgens’ father passed away after battling with cancer. She tweeted on Sunday morning: “I am so sad to say that last night my daddy, Greg passed away from stage 4 cancer. Thank you to everyone who kept him in your prayers.”
She courageously kept the show going.
Tonight, I do the show in his honor.
— Vanessa Hudgens (@VanessaHudgens) January 31, 2016
It’s good to see her cast mates help cheering the 27-year-old actress up. Hudgens shared a video of them singing together in the dressing room.
It’s the time! Tune in right now to watch #GreaseLive on Fox!! @gogreasehttps://t.co/dBAEoj8qP4
— Vanessa Hudgens (@VanessaHudgens) February 1, 2016
Now that’s what we call the true Pink Ladies spirit. #WeGoTogether