Vanessa Hudgens and Jordan Fisher Give Us Perfectly '90s Vibes in This RENT First Look
There may be 525,600 minutes in a year, but there are only 45 days until Fox’s live airing of RENT. But you won’t even have to wait that long to catch a glimpse of it. No day but today, after all!
PEOPLE has the exclusive first look at the live television event, airing on Jan. 27, 2019, based on the Tony-winning musical, Rent, by Jonathan Larson.
Grease Live! alum Jordan Fisher (top row, third from the left) stars as Mark Cohen, as struggling documentarian and the narrator of the story which takes place in New York City at the peak of the AIDS crisis. Vanessa Hudgens (bottom, second from the left) plays Maureen, his ex-girlfriend who leaves him to be with Joanne, played by Transparent actress Kiersey Clemons (bottom, far left).
Mark’s other friends include roommate Roger (Brennin Hunt, bottom, third from the left) and his love interest, Mimi (Tinashe, far right), frenemy Benjamin (Mario, top, far right), and new couple Tom and Angel (Hamilton alum Brandon Victor Dixon and RuPaul’s Drag Race‘s Valentina, top left).
Together, the struggling artists celebrate the holidays, question how they’ll pay rent, and try, despite disease, to appreciate every second of those 525,600 minutes. (Speaking of, that unforgettable ballad, “Seasons of Love,” will be performed by The Greatest Showman standout Keala Settle.)
The musical will feature a live orchestra on stage. Michael Greif, who worked alongside Larson during the creative process of the original production, directs.
RENT airs live Sunday, Jan. 27 on Fox.