The show must go on!… sort of.
According to Deadline, Fox decided to go ahead with its TV version of the classic musical “Rent” on Sunday night, but used recording of the dress rehearsal instead of going live after one of its leads suffering an ankle injury.
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Brennin Hunt, who played the character of Roger Davis in the production, suffered the injury during rehearsals, apparently rolling his ankle. TVLine reports that Hunt may, in fact, have broken his ankle.
Unlike a traditional Broadway show, the lead actors in “Rent: Live” did not have understudies. Deadline reported that Fox was likely use pre-taped version of the production.
Viewers at home were not impressed by how things turned out.
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In an interesting twist, the musical was still performed live on Sunday, with Hunt in a wheelchair. Some audience members shared footage of that performance on Twitter.
“Last night during a live performance of Fox’s production of ‘Rent’, one of the actors, Brennin Hunt, was injured,” Fox said in a statement. “But in the spirit of ‘Rent’, everyone – producers and cast, original and current — is dedicated to ensuring that tonight’s broadcast must, and will, go on.”
Following the not so “live” performance, Hunt spoke with Variety about his injury.
What happened last night would not have happened if my foot had not been broken, and what happened last night was beautiful,” Hunt explained. “It was the essence of ‘Rent’ and I’m trying to stay as positive as possible and know maybe my foot broke for a reason.”
He added, ”I was just fortunate that we got through all the way up to that point. If I would have broken it before ‘What You Own’, there’s no stage-diving, there’s no climbing the ladder. I’m trying to think of all of the positive[s]!”
“Rent: Live” also starred Vanessa Hudgens and Kiersey Clemons.
