The Rent: Live cast broke the bad news to viewers during its Sunday live broadcast on Fox.
Jordan Fisher and Vanessa Hudgens reunited with the cast as they addressed the audience early in the three-hour broadcast.
Vanessa, 30, was the messenger as she revealed that Brennen Hunt, Roger, during Saturday’s rehearsal “broke his foot” and “won’t be performing tonight.”
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BROKEN FOOT: Brennen Hunt, shown in an undated file photo, broke his foot during Saturday’s rehearsal of Rent: Live and was unable to perform Sunday on the Fox show
Jordan, 24, told viewers that most of the show will be pre-recorded from Saturday night’s rehearsal performance and that Brennin will join them for the final issue.
He then said that the cast and crew had adopted a “show must go on” mentality and cited late rent-grabber Jonathan Larson as saying, “No day but today.”
Brennin, 26, took to Instagram Stories on Sunday and shared a video of the cast getting right on his feet as he changed his pants so he could take part.
“We had to customize these pants because of this thing,” Brennin said, pointing to his foot.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Brennen took to social media Sunday after breaking his foot in a rehearsal
Altered Pants: The actor had to change his pants because of his age
He added, “Breaking my foot last night wasn’t fun, but it was great to get back into the pose with everyone.”
I love these people very much. They showered me with love and kindness, which is the essence of this musical, and I am truly honored to be a part of the Rent family and I hope you all have fun tonight,” Brennen said.
Brennin suffered a foot injury at a rehearsal during the final act, according to Hollywood Reporter.
“Last night during a live screening of a Fox production of Rent, one of the actors, Brennan Hunt, was injured,” a statement from Fox read.
Not fun: The 26-year-old actor said breaking his foot was ‘not fun’ but he was happy to be back with the cast
The statement concluded, “But in the spirit of Rent, everyone—producers and actors, original and recent—is dedicated to ensuring that the night continues to air.”
There are no replacements for the primary cast members, including Vanessa, Tinashe, and Kiersey Clemons, but Fox confirmed they were using taped portions of Saturday’s rehearsal during the live broadcast.
Fox statement: “One of the actors, Brennine Hunt, was injured last night during a live performance of the Fox production of Rent,” a statement from Fox
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, director Alex Rudzinski talked about their “back-up plan” in case something goes wrong.
“What we have is a backup recording from the night before,” Rudzinski said during the production’s press day.
So the night before we do a full rehearsal on camera to tape, so if the metaphorical meteor hits the studio, we can switch to that backup recording, which is with the audience, so there’s a degree of backup there.”
Backup plan: Brennin, who appeared earlier this month in Los Angeles, had no alternative
He added that they had a backup similar to 2016’s Grease: Live, which he also pulled out, and which they had to use for a while.
In fact, I think in Grease, we lost audio for about eight seconds and switched. I think we had to switch to backup for about eight seconds, and no one noticed.
Reporters from THR were present when the injury occurred, and revealed that the injury actually occurred during the final commercial hiatus, when the actor was not on stage.
Rental Cast: Michael Grave, the theater director best known for Broadway sensation Dear Evan Hansen, told the assembled 1,000+ people Hunt “rolled his ankle”
Michael Greif, the stage director known as Broadway sensation Dear Evan Hansen, told the assembled more than 1,000 people that Hunt “rolled his ankle.”
Grieve said Hunt wanted to complete the performance, which he had only about 15 minutes left when the injury occurred.
Hunt competed on The X-Factor and appeared in Nashville. He plays a role in the movie “Rent” created by Adam Pascal.
The high-energy rock musical celebrates survival among artists and the homeless in New York’s East Village. Contains unforgettable songs seasons of love and another day.
The show will go on: Greif said Hunt wanted to complete the performance, which he only had about 15 minutes left when the injury occurred
