The Pressure Is On For Fox’s Rent Live Musical Broadcast

Following the success of Fox’s live musical broadcast of Grease in 2016, the upcoming A Christmas Story Live!, and NBC’s many live musical broadcasts (including Peter Pan, The Wiz, and The Sound of Music), the network has set its sights on a new (and certainly more modern than Grease) musical to broadcast live during primetime: Rent. The show will air on January 27, 2019, though the cast has yet to be announced. Rent was—is—an iconic and groundbreaking musical, beloved by many (including your truly). Rent’s last performance on Broadway was in 2008, a feature film adaptation released in 2005, and the show has continued to tour on-and-off. Chances are, Fox’s live broadcast is both an opportunity to introduce new viewers to Rent, as well as a chance for old fans to tune in and see one of their favorites performed for the first time or once again. So the pressure is on for Fox. How can they honor Jonathan Larson’s original vision and legacy? Here are a few ideas.

Keep the Cast Diverse

Rent’s original cast was pretty racially diverse. If Fox does the typical Hollywood whitewashing…well, it’ll be shameful, and also nonsensical, antithetical to the core of the show. TBH, they probably won’t whitewash the show. But who the heck knows these days. So here’s my plea: keep the casting diverse, Fox!

And Also Relatively Age-Appropriate

Look, older actors play younger characters all the time, I get it. And I'm certainly on board to counteract Hollywood's rampant ageism with the continued casting of aging actors (especially women). But it’s pretty core to the plot that Roger, Mark, et al. are young. The story of young 20-somethings struggling to make it in NYC loses something when those 20-somethings are played by 30-somethings. Let's cast some of Hollywood/Broadway's #youth for this one.

Don’t Update Things Too Much

The East Village/Alphabet City may have changed since the 90s, but the themes, struggles, and emotion present in Rent still resonate today. There’s no need to update the whole plot or even move the story to present-day. We’re totally capable of enjoying a story that takes place in the past (especially when it still feels relevant). Also, I saw the British version of Rent, which had its music synthesized within an inch of its life (errrr, I mean, “updated with the help of Kylie Minogue”) No disrespect to Kylie, but there’s no need to make Rent’s music poppy and synthy. Just…no.

Use the Opportunity to Raise Awareness/Money

There are issues covered in Rent that are still relevant today—why not use the live show's commercial breaks, or some kind of special introduction, conclusion, or intermission-like moment to raise some awareness? HIV/AIDS research, LGBTQ rights, the opioid crisis, gentrification…the list goes on. Each and every one of these topics deserves some spotlight. Put some good out in the world, Fox, and raise awareness (and/or money) for any one (or more) of these issues during your broadcast.

For the Love of Musicals, Make Sure the Cast Can Sing

Like, really sing. This is a musical.

We’ll be watching, Fox. Don’t mess this up.