Fans took a trip down memory lane back to Rydell High when Fox debuted the highly anticipated musical, Grease: Live, on Sunday (Jan. 31). Whether viewers were singing their hearts during the performances or rolling their eyes, they were tuned in. The live telecast topped The Wiz Live! by earning over 12 million views, according to The Hollywood Reporter. See how celebrities reacted to the show.
Nielsen, an American global information and measurement company, released an early number rating of Grease: Live. The three-hour live event reportedly racked up a whopping 12.2 million and a 4.3 rating among adults ages 18-49 and a 7.4 overnight rating among various households, according to THR.
This was the network's first attempt at a live musical, which only allowed room for comparisons to NBC's last three telecast efforts. Grease: Live came in second to the 2013 showing of The Sound of Music Live, starring Carried Underwood, Stephen Moyer, Audra McDonald, and Laura Benanti. The show drew in 18.3 million viewers with a 4.6 rating with adults ages 18-49 and an initial 10.9 overnight rating.
NBC's 2015 production of The Wiz Live! attracted 11 million viewing audience, while their 2014 live production of Peter Pan bombed. Fox is set to explore religion in their forthcoming two-hour musical special, The Passion, which will be hosted and narrated by Tyler Perry on March 20.
Among the millions of Grease: Live fans were several celebrities who couldn't help but share their opinions of the show for the world to see. According to People, the telecast generated over 1.4 million tweets between 8-11 p.m. on Sunday night , with over 90,000 of them mentioning Vanessa Hudgens (Rizzo).
Former High School Musical co-star, Ashley Tisdale, professed how proud she was of her good friend Hudgens, while Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the sold out Broadway play Hamilton, admired her strength for putting on a show shortly after losing her dad to cancer.
A photo posted by Laurennnn Palmer (@kekepalmer) on Jan 28, 2016 at 1:37pm PST
Derek Hough cheered on his little sister Julianne Hough (Sandy) and besties Gigi Hadid and Taylor Swift had fun belting out the song lyrics.
Check out what some of the celebrities had to say about Grease: Live below:
I wouldn't expect anything less @VanessaHudgens is killing it! So proud of my girl #GreaseLive
— AshleyTisdaleFrench (@ashleytisdale) February 1, 2016
Taylor Swift & Gigi Hadid watched 'Grease! Live' together last night: pic.twitter.com/FTQMl9ekmx — Shady Music Facts (@musicnews_shade) February 1, 2016
Imagine you had Vanessa Hudgens' day, and doing that.
What a superhero.
In total awe.— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) February 1, 2016
ok i am officially watching Grease Live...I am in awe of how difficult the behind the scenes of this must be. — christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) February 1, 2016
Killin it ! #GREASELIVE https://t.co/rJ02y5IPt0
— Derek Hough (@derekhough) February 1, 2016
Imagine if you had a day like @VanessaHudgens & performed like that. Wow.What a strong woman.My new hero#GreaseLive pic.twitter.com/ZSyprJ5hnY — Mario Lopez (@MarioLopezExtra) February 1, 2016
Ugh crying I love the original grease so much and this is awesome. #GreaseLive
— Nicole Polizzi (@snooki) February 1, 2016
I'm a little too excited that I know every song and every line from #GreaseLive — Kyle Richards (@KyleRichards) February 1, 2016
@mariamenounos @VanessaHudgens Stay strong Nessa
— Andrea Juárez (@Andreajrez) February 1, 2016
Wow congrats to everyone involved in #GreaseLive! Production & performances were amazing! Way better than my high school production!..just X — Rebel Wilson (@RebelWilson) February 1, 2016
@GoGrease was so fun.. Awesome job to @juliannehough @VanessaHudgens @KekePalmer and the rest of the cast!!!!
— Demi Lovato (@ddlovato) February 1, 2016
That's how you do it! @GoGrease this girl! #TripleThreat @KekePalmer pic.twitter.com/MUDjXQDdxH — Niecy Nash (@NiecyNash) February 1, 2016
@Jordan_Fisher & @KekePalmer were my #GreaseLive highlights
— Gigi Hadid (@GiGiHadid) February 1, 2016
OMG @KekePalmer oh my god amazing — Chloë Grace Moretz (@ChloeGMoretz) February 1, 2016
