One of the biggest fads to hit the small screen in recent years is the live TV musical. Networks put together spectacular stagings of musicals, all live on television. We've seen everything from The Sound of Music to The Wiz to Grease, and some of have been more successful than others. Now, Fox is poised to bring one of the most popular musicals ever to the small screen. A live production of Rent will debut on Fox.
Fans of Rent can rejoice at the announcement from Fox, but there is some bad news: we have a while to wait before we see Roger, Mark, and the rest on live television. The live musical production of Rent won't air until Sunday, January 27, 2019. ET. While Rent is probably best known for the song "Seasons of Love" that breaks down a year in 525,600 minutes, we'll be waiting a whole lot longer to see the song sung live on Fox.
The good news is that the premiere date gives us plenty of time to make a space in our schedule to tune in. On January 27, 2019, we'll know ahead of time not to go out tonight, as the musical will not air another day. Christmas bells will have finished ringing by that point, and we'll probably be done wishing each other a happy new year. Even if we're not all over the moon that we have two more Halloweens to wait before the musical makes contact with the airwaves, we're okay. If worse comes to worse, we can always watch the movie again.
Fans of the stage production can attest to the fact that Rent is probably a pretty ideal show to be adapted for the small screen. Unlike many other musicals, Rent doesn't involve an especially elaborate set. The movie went pretty far to build an East Village world for the characters, but the stage version makes do without much. A TV version doesn't necessarily require a crazy high set budget to do justice to the stage production.
Rent won't exactly be the merriest musical ever to get a live debut, as it's no secret that four of the seven main characters suffer from AIDS. The show gets pretty dark at times, and viewers may want to stock up on tissues before sitting down to watch in 2019. Still, there's a reason why Rent has been so incredibly popular since its Broadway debut back in 1996. The music is catchy in the best way, and the characters are well-developed in the span of only a few hours. That said, the show is almost entirely sung, so it's probably not ideal for somebody who prefers mostly talking with only a little bit of singing out of their musicals.
If you're in the mood for some Rent sooner than January 2019, the movie adaptation is currently available streaming for Amazon subscribers. For your other viewing options now and in the not-too-distant future, take a look at our fall TV premiere schedule and our 2017 Netflix premiere schedule.
