Rent: Live

Cast and characters

Jordan Fisher portrayed Mark Cohen, Brennin Hunt played Roger Davis, and Tinashe took the role of Mimi Marquez. Brandon Victor Dixon performed as Tom Collins, Valentina as Angel Dumott Schunard, Vanessa Hudgens as Maureen Johnson, Kiersey Clemons as Joanne Jefferson, and Mario as Benjamin "Benny" Coffin III.

Keala Settle played Cy, a gender-flipped version of Paul combined with soloist 1, along with multiple ensemble roles. Jennifer Leigh Warren, Debra Cardona, Matt Saldivar, Alton Fitzgerald White, J. Elaine Marcos, Bryce Ryness, Emerson Collins, and numerous other performers filled additional ensemble parts. The original Broadway cast—including Daphne Rubin-Vega, Anthony Rapp, Fredi Walker, Adam Pascal, Jesse L. Martin, Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Idina Menzel, and Gilles Chiasson—made cameo appearances.

Production and broadcast

During the Saturday dress rehearsal on January 26, 2019, Brennin Hunt broke his foot. Fox announced the show would air as planned using both pre-recorded footage from a previous dress rehearsal and live footage. On January 27, the performance was done with limited physical activity before a studio audience, with Hunt in a wheelchair.

The simultaneous telecast consisted almost entirely of the prerecorded dress rehearsal; only the final 15 minutes—including "Finale", "Your Eyes", "Finale B", and an encore of "Seasons of Love" with the original 1996 Broadway cast—were broadcast live. Choreography for the final act was modified for Hunt's wheelchair. A technical fault at the start affected New York City's Fox flagship station WNYW and its fiber connection to Optimum and Spectrum, causing those viewers to miss the first five minutes.

Reception

The special received mixed to negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 27% approval rating from 22 reviews, with an average score of 5.8/10; the critical consensus states: "Despite the show's earnest intentions, Rent Live's clumsy production and pre-recorded broadcast render it an underwhelming 'live' musical event." On Metacritic, the score is 49 out of 100 based on 12 reviews, indicating mixed or average reception. Criticism focused on the failure to hire understudies for the main cast after Hunt's injury and the decision to broadcast a prerecorded performance marketed as live.

Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter suggested the network could have strategized a live concert setting with limited staging. Aisha Harris of The New York Times questioned the chaotic visuals and middling audio, calling the camerawork overwrought. Extensive edits to profanity and sexual references for network standards drew criticism from Variety's Caroline Framke.

However, performances by Fisher, Dixon, Tinashe, and Hudgens were generally praised, as was the production design. Caroline Siede of The A.V. Club gave a mostly positive review, noting the special reimagined the musical with new aesthetic and staging, and praised the finale featuring the 1996 Broadway cast. The telecast earned a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49 and 3.42 million total viewers, making it the lowest-rated live musical broadcast as of its airdate; viewership dropped dramatically after the opening segment in markets with segment-by-segment ratings.

Did You Know?

• A technical fault at the start caused New York City's Fox station WNYW and its cable providers Optimum and Spectrum to miss the first five minutes, including parts of "Tune Up #1," "Voice Mail #1," "Tune Up #2," and "Rent".
• The original 1996 Broadway cast, including Daphne Rubin-Vega, Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Jesse L. Martin, Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Idina Menzel, and others, made cameo appearances in the special.