EW Review of Nessa in Rent

Here is a critic review done by EW about Vanessa’s performance in Rent:

“Vocally, her performance was competent, if not stellar; more Glee than Broadway, but with no need for Auto-Tune. And though Hudgens doesn’t come anywhere near the necessary emotional heft or possess a visible understanding of what it means to be homeless, penniless, strung out, and dying of a terrifying disease, she does, at least, look 16. (Or as Mimi might sing, “I’m 19, but I’m old for my age.” Hudgens is 21.) She flung herself wholeheartedly into the wall-to-wall choreography of “Out Tonight” (which left her panting), and brought an endearing sweetness to the love songs, transforming Mimi from a baggage-carrying basket case into an eyelash-batting romantic. It occurred to me as I watched her skip off stage after the curtain call that her wide eyes and eager energy were possibly less a character choice and more a reaction to the thousands of people packed into the Bowl. I’m as fierce a defender of RENT as they come — I graduated from NYU’s theater school a few years before Perez, and let’s just say you did not want to be near me after I saw the movie — but against my better judgment, I liked Hudgens, and I like that she took this chance.”