Rent: Live

The original Broadway cast, including Daphne Rubin-Vega, Anthony Rapp, Fredi Walker, Adam Pascal, Jesse L. Martin, Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Idina Menzel, and Gilles Chiasson made cameos in the special.[2]

Several of the songs, notably the various "Voice Mails," "Christmas Bells" and "Finale A", were shortened to fit the run time. "Seasons of Love B" was cut entirely.

A technical fault at the start of the show occurred with New York City's Fox flagship station WNYW and its direct fiber connection to cable providers Optimum and Spectrum, resulting in those viewers missing the first five minutes of the special, including all or part of the musical numbers "Tune Up #1," "Voice Mail #1," "Tune Up #2" and "Rent".[6][7]

The special received mixed to negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 27% approval rating from 22 reviews, with an average score of 5.8/10. The critical consensus reads, "Despite the show's earnest intentions, Rent Live's clumsy production and pre-recorded broadcast render it an underwhelming 'live' musical event."[8] On Metacritic, which calculates a weighted average of review scores, the special holds a score of 49 out of 100 based on 12 reviews, indicating a "mixed or average" reception.[9]

Much of the criticism focused on the production's failure to hire understudies for the main cast in reference to Hunt's injury, as well as the decision to broadcast a prerecorded performance for a program marketed as live television. Daniel Fienberg, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, wrote that the network "could have quickly strategized a live concert setting with a limited staging around Hunt and then aired the dress rehearsal at some point during the week."[10] Aisha Harris, reviewing for The New York Times, echoed these sentiments, writing "How do you measure three hours of chaotic visuals and middling audio most of us were never meant to see and hear?", and calling the camerawork "overwrought."[11]

Extensive edits to profanity and sexual references in the musical's lyrical content, made in order to meet network broadcasting standards, was also the subject of criticism, with Variety critic Caroline Framke questioning if a broadcast network was an appropriate outlet for a production of the show in the first place.[12]

However, the cast's performances (particularly Fisher, Dixon, Tinashe and Hudgens) were generally praised, and the production design of the program was also well received.[10][13] In a mostly positive review for The A.V. Club, Caroline Siede wrote that the special "did what these live musicals are supposed to do—reimagine a beloved musical with a new aesthetic, new performers, and new staging choices," and praised the show's finale featuring the 1996 Broadway cast.[14]

The telecast received a 1.4 rating among adults 18 to 49 and 3.42 million total viewers, making it the lowest-rated live musical broadcast as of its airdate.[15] In markets where ratings were available segment-by-segment, viewership fell dramatically after the opening segment.[16]