'Rent' Live Musical Release Date: Tony-Winning Musical Coming in 2019
The live production of Tony and Pulitzer-winning musical "Rent" is scheduled for 2019, FOX confirmed.
At the Television Critics Association's press tour last August, the network first announced that the live broadcast of "Rent" should air sometime in late 2018, but a more recent announcement confirmed that the date has been pushed back to early 2019.
"Grease Live!" executive producer Marc Platt will produce "Rent." He is also working on the Maya Rudolph-led "A Christmas Story" that is slated to premiere on Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. ET on FOX.
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The production of "A Christmas Story" is one of the reasons "Rent" has been pushed back, FOX chairman and CEO Dana Walden announced at TCA.
"Honestly, Marc has really been focusing on A Christmas Story; it's a big production to mount," she told audiences. "He's been working with Julie [Larson], and they've had some preliminary conversations, but haven't gone out to any talent yet. Actually, we'll probably think first about a director."
For the uninitiated, "Rent," which first debuted on Broadway in 1996, follows the lives of seven artists struggling to achieve their dreams during a period of social and political turmoil. Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs were among the original cast members who also appeared in the 2005 film adaptation.
"Rent" garnered 10 Tony nominations and won four of them, including Best Musical, Book and Score, and the remaining two were for the late Jonathan Larson. The musical ran from April 1996 to September 2008.
FOX promised that they will release follow-up announcements of the details of the live production, as well as of the cast and crew of the show.
The live musical broadcast of "Rent" should air on Jan. 27, 2019, the Sunday after the NFL Conference Championship Games and before the Super Bowl LIII.
