-Is it happy early birthday or happy belated birthday?
-Early. My birthday is very soon.
-Now, how old -- I hate to ask.
-I'm turning 30. The big 3-0.
-You're a baby. My God, the big 3-0.
-But, like, it feels monumentous, you know?
-30 is big, I guess. -It's big!
I'm, like -- I got plans. I got things to do.
-What's the party like? That's what I want to know.
-The party is a "Lord of the Rings"-themed birthday party.
-Yes! See, that's what I'm talking about.
-Yeah, I had this fantasy
of having a "Lord of the Rings" theme party
where I'm, like, Galadriel with the white hair
and I'm floating into my birthday party
and there's, like, a harpist playing
and, like, elves everywhere.
Is anyone from the movie stopping by?
Are you friends with any of the cast at all?
-No, that would be too cool. I'm not that cool.
-You know -- You don't know Elijah Wood?
He's really fun. -I know.
Well, he's, like, a deejay, too. Doesn't he --
-He just does everything. He's just a fun dude.
-Okay, well, if you have his number --
He watches the show all the time.
-Oh, hey, Elijah.
-Elijah, come to Vanessa's birthday party.
It would be so fun. -Iconic.
-It's "Lord of the Rings"-themed.
-You have to come in costume. Sorry.
-Now he's definitely not coming, yeah.
All right, sorry. I apologize.
-Okay.
-Tell me about the song you did with Phantoms.
This is pretty cool. -Yeah, it's really cool.
Well, I have been friends with those guys,
Kyle and Vinnie, for so long.
We used to go to acting class together
when we were like 15 years old.
And then we ran into each other at the airport.
And they're like, "We should do some music together."
And I was like, "Yeah, of course. Why not?"
And I came into the studio, did this song with them.
It was great. We were super excited about it.
And we were trying to figure out what to do for the video.
And they said, "Well, you know, since we kind of came
from, like, the Disney and Nickelodeon community,
why not do a throwback
and make it feel like an old Disney Channel movie?"
And I was like, "What if we made it like 'High School Musical'?"
-Don't even say it!
[ Cheers and applause ]
Don't you even say it.
And you did. Here's the video.
Side by side is the "Lay With Me" music video.
-Yeah, yeah.
I wanted to start it out the exact same way
as we started "Breaking Free."
But, like, I love it because I'm like, "This is 10 years later."
I was like, "I think I'm aging well."
-Yeah, you still -- You are.
I mean, I don't know which one's now and then.
-I was like, "Who cares what the video does?
At least it shows that I'm doing okay."
I don't know. [ Laughter ]
-Oh, come on. You're so --
Did you show it to any of the cast of "High School Musical?"
-I showed it to Ashley Tisdale first.
-You did not. -I did. I put it in her hands.
And she was like, "Why are you showing me 'Breaking Free'?"
And I'm like, "No, girl, watch."
-"It's a new video!" -"It's new."
"I haven't aged. Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha." Yeah.
-"Joke's on you." No.
No, but she was like, "Oh, my God, I cannot believe this."
It blew her mind.
She was so excited about it. She loved it.
-Check it out, if you guys go on Vevo or whatever
and check it out.
I want to talk about "Rent: Live,"
which, weirdly enough, I saw you perform in "Rent."
-I know. -Years ago.
-At the Hollywood Bowl. -At the Hollywood Bowl.
-Yeah, so, in that one I played Mimi.
And in this one, I'm playing a different character, Maureen.
-Why do it to yourself? Why not just play Mimi?
I would be like, "Ah." -That's too easy.
You like making things hard on yourselves, yeah.
-But what are you -- Are you doing vocal exercises?
-Oh, my gosh, yeah.
There's a lot of vocal exercising.
It's hard, though, because you don't realize
it's literally a marathon.
Like, you're working long hours.
And the songs are not easy, by any means.
Like, "Take Me or Leave Me" is like belt it, belt it,
belt it the entire time.
-They're classic songs. -Yeah, and it's so good.
And you just want to do it justice.
But I feel like the cast is incredible.
Everyone's really stepping into their own shoes,
bringing their own selves into the characters.
I feel like we're going to do the story justice.
And bringing it to a new audience
that might not have seen "Rent" before.
It's such an iconic show. And it is still so relevant.
So it's very exciting.
-I'm very, very excited about that.
Congratulations. [ Cheers and applause ]
I'll be rooting -- I'll be rooting for you.
I'll be tweeting for you.
Yeah, tell your dad. -Live tweet.
-Yeah, exactly.