Here's Everything You Need To Know About The Upcoming 'Rent: Live'

It's way less than 525,600 minutes until Rent: Live comes to your screen, so you better get ready for a powerhouse night of music, romance, and "la vie boheme." But fans are wondering, when does Rent: Live air? The latest live musical event will air on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 10 P.M. on FOX. It'll be the fifth live musical event on Fox since Grease: Live, The Passion: New Orleans, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and A Christmas Story.

For those who aren't familiar, Rent is a 1996 Tony award-winning musical based on the 19th century Italian opera La boheme. But don't worry, it's definitely not nearly as dry as it sounds. Rent takes the melodramatic story of the opera and revamps it for the modern era. While La boheme is about starving artists in Paris in the 1800's, Rent tells the story of a bunch of 20-something New Yorkers trying to forge their way through life, love, and art at the end of the 20th century. With its contemporary rock music score, Rent is way more relatable and fun than a classical opera.

After becoming a smash hit on Broadway in 1996, Rent was made into a movie musical in 2005. Every decade or so Rent is revitalized for new audiences, and thanks to the timeless quality of its story of young people powering through their struggles, it's welcomed each time around. Now Fox's Rent: Live will be bringing the musical to a whole new generation. Even though the musical takes place 20 years ago, and focuses a lot on the issues and aftermath HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980's, the themes of building community and living in the moment are relevant today. Brandon Victor Dixon, who plays Collins in Rent: Live spoke in a promo video about how he sees the main messages of Rent as necessary still today. He said:

The message of Rent is that love transforms disease, and the foundational message of this show is that you measure your life in love. The love you gave, and the love that you allowed yourself to receive.

The cast of Rent: Live is filled with young stars who embody a lot of the diversity that Rent supports. Rent: Live star Kiercey Clemons acknowledged that parts of the world now are way more accepting than they were twenty years ago, and lot of that is thanks to spreading messages like the ones in Rent. She said:

I'm privileged enough to live in such a progressive time, at least in my bubble, and the only way that that really happens is to dedicate your time to others that are unlike you and that's what the show is about.

Jonathan Larson wrote Rent, but he tragically died before the show's premiere. He never got to see his show make its Broadway debut, let alone see it become a feature film or air on network TV. Jordan Fisher talked about how important this production is for Larson's legacy when he said, "This was a dream of his and it became something so special, and moved generations and will for years to come." Hopefully audiences will be moved when Rent: Live airs on FOX on Jan. 27.