Take a bow! Vanessa Hudgens can't fight the opening night tears as her Broadway debut in Gigi receives mixed reviews

PUBLISHED: 08:59, 9 April 2015 | UPDATED: 08:59, 9 April 2015

She made her name in High School Musical, but on Wednesday night Vanessa Hudgens was all grown up as she made her Broadway debut.

The 26-year-old takes the lead role in a new $12 million production of Gigi, and while her reviews were decidedly mixed, the actress had an unforgettable opening as she lapped up the applause.

Fighting back tears, Vanessa was presented with a huge bouquet of flowers as she took a bow at the Neil Simon Theatre in New York City.

Opening night: Vanessa Hudgens wowed as she made her Broadway debut in a new production of Gigi in New York on Wednesday

Dressed in a dazzling array of costumes for her role of a courtesan-in-training, Vanessa stunned audiences as she finished her first night in a strapless black gown, elbow length gloves and elaborate costume jewellery.

As she lined up with her co-stars to take a bow, the actress was presented with a huge bunch of flowers.

Emotions were running high with Vanessa looking close to tears as she soaked in the applause alongside co-stars Victoria Clark who plays her grandmother Mamita and Corey Cott who stars as love interest Gaston Lachaille.

You did it! The 26-year-old actress was overcome with emotion as she took a bow

Love interest: The actress plays the lead opposite Newsies star Corey Cott, who stars as Gaston Lachaille

Take a bow: Vanessa received rapturous applause after her debut performance at the Neil Simon Theatre

While reviews for the new production have been mixed, Vanessa has earned praise for her take on the part once played by Audrey Hepburn.

British writer Heidi Thomas, who worked on the BBC’s Call the Midwife and the updated Upstairs, Downstairs has given the story a makeover, upping Vanessa's character's age from to 16 to 18 while Gaston is now 25, not middle aged.

The decisions haven't gone down well with all the critics, but Vanessa didn't seem worried on opening night, gushing about her excitement on Twitter as she prepared to hit Broadway for the first time.

All-star cast: Writer Heidi Thomas' production also features Victoria Clark as grandmother Mamita

Leading lady: The High School Musical star looked every inch the star in her couture costumes

Teary-eyed: Vanessa burst into tears as she finished up her debut performance

Talking to the New York Times last month, the actress gushed of her return to theatre:

'Doing this has really changed my perspective and my work ethic. It just feels like there's a massive shift happening.'

'Once again finding myself on the stage, as I did when I was a little girl, makes me go: "Oh my God, this is what I want. This is what I want to keep doing." '

Ahead of her opening performance, the 26-year-old showed off her incredible figure in a glamorous floral print dress as she posed for snaps right before the show.

It's opening night: Vanessa has said being back on the stage feels like a 'massive shift' in her career

Thank heaven! The star has received positive reviews for her performance in the title role

For me? Vanessa looked right at home as she lapped up the applause from a packed theatre

The California native's dark hair was cut shoulder length as she shot cast snaps with co-stars Cameron Adams, Howard McGillin, Corey Cott, Dee Hoty and Victoria Clark.

Meanwhile, on the red carpet for the theatre event was some big stars from television and film, who were clearly eager to attend the show.

Carrie Diaries AnnaSophia Robb sported a stunning mini-dress and a long lacy cape as she stood tall in silver heels.

Thankyou: The star blew kisses as she thanked her friends and family in the audience

Gorgeous debut: Vanessa made sure to stun backstage at the Neil Simon Theatre in New York City as the clock ticked down to the premiere for Gigi on Wednesday night

Quick change: Vanessa slipped into a strapless number for the afterparty

So excited! The California native's dark hair was cut shoulder length as she shot cast snaps with co-star Cameron Adams

Big night: The two ladies also posed with Howard McGillin, Corey Cott, Dee Hoty and Victoria Clark

Vanessa Hudgens discusses her nerves for lead role in Gigi

While film vixen Carla Gugino took the plunge in a brightly coloured monochrome summer dress.

The 43-year-old, perhaps best known for Sin City and Watch Men, let her brunette curls fall in sexy tangles as she showed off cute bangs.

Orange Is The New Black star Lea DeLaria showed up in dark framed sunglasses and a sharp suit.

And not to be outdone, Barbara Walters even made an appearance in a tasteful purple dress suit teamed with a brooch and beaded necklace.

Looking gorgeous: Film vixen Carla Gugino took the plunge in a brightly coloured monochrome summer dress

SJP would approve! Carrie Diaries AnnaSophia Robb sported a stunning mini-dress and a long lacy cape as she stood tall in silver heels

Suited and booted: Orange Is The New Black star Lea DeLaria showed up in dark framed sunglasses and a sharp suit

Elegant: Barbara Walters even made an appearance in a tasteful purple dress suit teamed with a brooch and beaded necklace

Showdown: Betsy Wolf (L) and Carly Hughes (R) both took the plunge in low cut tops

Taking a break from Raising Hope: Martha Plimpton also attended the show

Looking classy: Actress Carly Rose Sonenclar (L) and Ana Gasteyer (R) both wore tasteful summer dresses

Sharp: Kate Mulgrew sported an all-black pantsuit

REVIEW: VANESSA HUDGENS DOES WELL BUT CAN'T SAVE GIGI

BY MARK KENNEDY, AP DRAMA WRITER

Whoever decides to revive Gigi these days gets a great score by the songwriters behind My Fair Lady and an immediate problem. It's a little girl problem.

The Alan Jay Lerner-Frederick Loewe 1973 stage adaptation of their beloved, Oscar-winning movie musical of 1958 features an aging bon vivant and noted seducer named Honore singing Thank Heaven for Little Girls.

Not in 2015 he's not.

So in order to save the score, the creators of a new Gigi that opened Wednesday at the Neil Simon Theatre have done a gut renovation on the book by Colette. They've taken out the creepy factor, but they've taken out the zing, too.

High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens does pretty well in her Broadway debut, handling her singing duties admirably while maturing from girlish brat to Audrey Hepburn-ish stunner during intermission. She's game for a cartwheel or sprinting across the stage, but she might want to lose the strange accent since no one else is doing it.

She's surrounded by good actors, too, including a head-turning performance by Corey Cott, who proves a terrific actor and singer in a frothy show, as well as the always-wonderful Victoria Clark and a gloriously catty Dee Hoty.

Direction by Eric Schaeffer is crisp - a scene with five exasperated lawyers is a treat - and choreography by Joshua Bergasse is excellent, especially in a nifty dance transition from sunny seaside to rainy city. Derek McLane's set of sweeping, iron-lattice stairs and lots of parasols is beautiful, and Catherine Zuber's gowns and foppish suits are very becoming.

All the parts are good. They just, maddeningly, don't add for a stunning show. Both acts end rather unremarkably, like a fallen soufflé, (especially the messy The Night They Invented Champagne, which disappoints like an eggless soufflé) and the passion between the two lovers at the story's center never seems to really boil. Gigi doesn't have time to fall in love.

Set in Paris in 1900, Gigi centers on a teenage girl being groomed to serve as a mistress to wealthy men. Her mother (Clark) dislikes the idea, but her aunt (Hoty) wants young Gigi encased in jewels. Gigi seems to want to go along for the ride.

Cott plays a family friend - the bored, wealthy playboy, Gaston - who realizes halfway through that he's fallen in love with Gigi. Gaston has usually been played by an older man, but Cott and Hudgens are closer in age and make it work. The song Gigi, in which Gaston realizes he's smitten, is a triumph.

Meanwhile, Gigi's mother has rekindled a long romance with Honore (Howard McGillin) who irritatingly and unnecessarily frames the show ('And there you have it,' he says, helpfully. 'No one ever really knows what happens in the heart.' Actually, no one really knows what you're doing here.)

But that creepy playboy - played by Maurice Chevalier in the film - has been stripped of Thank Heaven for Little Girls by playwright Heidi Thomas, who wrote the PBS/BBC show Call the Midwife and has birthed many new ideas here.

He and Gigi's mother do share the delightful duets I Remember It Well but they also sing I'm Glad I'm Not Young Anymore, which used to be his alone, another sign he's been demoted.

Thomas seems to want to focus on the glorious, ooh-la-la Paris, not the unseemly, bed-hopping, adultery-awash Paris with real consequences. Strange, since this is, after all, a tale of high-end grooming and prostitution.

Thomas has tasked Gigi's mom and aunt to sing Thank Heaven for Little Girls, and, to be honest, they seem a little stunned by the assignment, though they're up to the task. Clark also is given Say a Prayer for Me Tonight, which was sung by Gigi herself in the film with Leslie Caron. The reason Gigi's mom sings it now is not entirely clear.

Thomas has tweaked the story to add nods that Gigi and Gaston - the next generation of affluent Parisians - hope for progress, but it's not enough, not like the recent Clark-led musical Cinderella, which was overhauled effectively for a modern audience.

Here, it's all about the bubbly Champagne. Everyone keeps singing about it but when it arrives, it's lukewarm and flat. Thank heaven for other choices.

www.nytimes.com/...

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Thursday, 9 April 2015

Vanessa Hudgens can't fight the opening night tears as her Broadway debut in Gigi

Take a bow! Vanessa Hudgens can't fight the opening night tears as her Broadway debut in Gigi receives mixed reviews

REVIEW: VANESSA HUDGENS DOES WELL BUT CAN'T SAVE GIGI