Jordan Fisher, Vanessa Hudgens, Brandon Victor Dixon, and RuPaul's Drag Race contestant Valentina are among the names announced for Fox's 2019 live production of Rent.
Set to air January 27, 2019, Rent will feature Kiersey Clemons (Hearts Beat Loud) as Joanne, Dixon (Hamilton, Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert) as Tom Collins, Fisher (Hamilton) as Mark, and Hudgens (High School Musical, Gigi, Grease: Live) as Maureen, with Brennin Hunt (Nashville) as Roger, Mario (Empire) as Benjamin, recording artist Tinashe (Dancing With the Stars) as Mimi, and Valentina as Angel. Tony nominee Keala Settle will also be part of the production, singing the solo from "Seasons of Love."
After the success of its live musicals Grease! Live and A Christmas Story, Fox now brings the Pulitzer Prize-winning Jonathan Larson musical to television audiences. As previously reported, Tony Award-nominated director Michael Greif, who staged the original Rent, will oversee the stage direction while Alex Rudzinski (Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, Grease: Live) is the live television director. Marc Platt (Grease: Live, La La Land, Wicked) returns to the network to executive produce alongside Adam Siegel, Julie Larson (sister of the late composer), and her father Al, as well as Vince Totino, Scott Hemming, and Marla Levine of Revolution Studios.
Bernard Telsey, who cast the original production, is also responsible for casting the Fox adaptation. Additional creative team members include Obie Award winner Kristoffer Diaz writing the adaptation for television, Emmy Award winner Al Gurdon as lighting designer, Tony Award and Grammy Award winner Stephen Oremus as music director and producer, Jason Sherwood as set designer and two-time Emmy Award nominee Sonya Tayeh as choreographer. Costume designer Angela Wendt, who designed the original production, returns for the TV version as well.
Schedule of Upcoming Live Theatre Broadcasts in Movie Theatres and on Television
The 1996 rock musical, loosely inspired by Puccini's La Bohème, launched the careers of several stage and screen favorites, including Idina Menzel, Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Taye Diggs, Jesse L. Martin, and Daphne Rubin-Vega.
