Vanessa Hudgens' Grease: Live performance unbelievably professional, despite father's death shortly before

Her father had passed away from cancer the night before the actress was due to take the stage.

Vanessa Hudgens wowed critics and viewers alike with her take on Rizzo in Fox's Grease: Live; showing true professionalism even after her father's passing the night before.

The actress had announced the death of her father, Gregory Hudgens, only hours before she was due to take the stage, tweeting to fans that she would be performing in honour of him.

Her take on the emotionally-charged ballad "There Are Worse Things I Could Do", a song essentially on hiding one's true feelings, proved to many the definitive highlight of the night; with her performance deemed more than a worthy successor to Stockard Channing's iconic take on the role in the 1978 film.

She also brought her A-game to Rizzo's other big tune, "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee", proving herself the perfect leader to the Pink Ladies.

Lin-Manuel Miranda offered his own praise for the actress. Miranda is best known as the creator of Broadway hit Hamilton, with its director Thomas Kail taking on the duties for Grease: Live.

Elsewhere, fans congratulated her both on her performance, and her absolute bravery and professionalism in carrying on under such difficult circumstances.

Overall, the show was met to critical acclaim for its boisterous, energetic take on the classic musical. Though most deemed Hudgens' role the show's highlight, the rest of the cast all seemed to receive positive notices; including Julianne Hough (Footloose) as Sandy, Aaron Tveit (Les Misérables) as Danny Zuko, and Carly Rae Jepsen as Frenchy.