Entertainment

Pamela Littky/FOX

Was ‘Rent: Live’ Pre-Recorded? Twitter Users Were Skeptical

by Casey Suglia

When people tuned in to Rent: Live on Sunday on Fox, they were super excited. But some people might have been a little confused to see a message flash upon the screen that said some parts of the broadcast had been "previously recorded." This prompted people at home to ask — was Rent: Live pre-recorded?

Although the broadcast was supposed to be performed live, it didn't exactly go according to plan. On Saturday, during a dress rehearsal for Rent: Live, actor Brennin Hunt, who plays the rock musician with a tortured soul, Roger, got injured. While initial reports stated that Hunt had a sprained ankle, on Sunday evening, Fox confirmed that Hunt had broken his foot, according to E! News.

After an incredible opening number, the cast of Rent: Live came on camera to announce that Hunt had sustained an injury and was unable to perform on Sunday evening during the live performance. This means that the musical that audience members were watching on Sunday was one of the recorded dress rehearsals from Saturday.

The dress rehearsal was still performed in front of a live audience that was super responsive the musical. However, people at home were still very upset that they aired a previously-recorded version of the musical (even if it was performed one day earlier).

And some people were upset that they called it Rent: Live when it wasn't exactly live. So then it just should have been called Rent... on TV?

It's understandable why people were upset when they saw the message about the show being pre-recorded on the screen. People have been looking forward to seeing this live performance on TV for months now. And to learn that the performance had been pre-recorded was probably very disappointing.

But, as the cast stated during the show, "the show must go on." And since they didn't decide to replace Hunt at the last minute, they had to go with the next best thing to the live broadcast — which was show an almost live, taped version of it. Although this might have taken the "live" out of Rent: Live, it didn't take away from how the performance was filmed or sang. And it's not as if the performance was completely canceled altogether — a live audience (and the actors) were still on set on Sunday evening as the performance aired on TV.

But that's the thing about live TV — since it's live, you never know what will happen. And the show had to go on in some capacity — with Hunt. But Hunt hinted on Instagram that he would appear in the show later on in the evening. Hunt posted a video recording of himself to his Instagram story on Sunday evening showing off his injured foot, which was in a cast. "Breaking my foot was not fun last night," Hunt said. "But it's been great being back on set with everyone."

With Rent: Live's heavily choreographed performances, it's likely that Hunt simply couldn't keep up with his costars after breaking his foot, so you can't really blame them for it not being live. Although the majority of the performance was pre-recorded, it's clear that the actors and team behind Rent: Live did the best they could. And at this point, that's all that audience members could ask for.