'Rent: Live' forced to air recorded performance after star breaks his ankle

Kylie Mar
·Host & Producer, Yahoo Entertainment

Fox’s live production of the Tony Award-winning musical Rent aired Sunday night, but it wasn’t completely live.

Unfortunately, after Brennin Hunt, who played Roger Davis, broke his ankle the night before during the cast’s dress rehearsal, Fox had to resort to airing the recorded performance, which was explained by members of the cast during their first commercial break.

“Last night during our performance, in front of a live audience, one of our cast members sustained an injury,” said Vanessa Hudgens, who played Maureen Johnson. Hudgens continued saying, “A visit to the hospital confirmed that Brennin Hunt, our Roger, has broken his foot and will be unable to perform tonight.” Jordan Fisher, who played Mark Cohen, added, “Most of what you’ll see tonight will come from last night’s performance, but we have all rallied together to rework the final act so that all of us, including Brennin, and the original Broadway cast of Rent can perform it for you live.”

Viewers on Twitter were a little disappointed, like this person who pointed out:

While viewers at home only got to see the cast’s dress rehearsal performance, the studio audience, who attended Sunday’s live show, which was supposed to air were treated to a performance by Brennin in a wheelchair.

One person on Twitter shared:

However, as promised, the final act was performed and aired live with Hunt in a full foot cast, as members of the original 1996 Broadway cast, including Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs, appeared to help close out the show.

Rent: Live aired Sunday, January 27th at 8 p.m. on Fox. Watch clips and the full performance of Rent: Live for free on Yahoo View.

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