FOX to air live staging of the musical 'Rent'

May 13 (UPI) -- FOX says it plans to air a live production of the Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Rent.

Marc Platt, along with the estate of writer and composer Jonathan Larson, will executive produce the event.

No casting, director or air-date have been announced yet.

The re-imagining of Puccini's opera La Bohème is set in 1980s New York City and follows a group of struggling artists.

"We are so honored to partner with the estate of the brilliant Jonathan Larson and producer Marc Platt on one of the great musicals of our time," Dana Walden and Gary Newman, chairmen and chief executive officers of Fox Television Group, said in a joint statement Friday. "The title is so iconic, the music is so beloved, and the themes are as meaningful today as they were when the show first premiered on Broadway. With Marc overseeing this project, we are sure it will have a profound impact on the legions of fans who know and love this musical."

"Rent​ was Jonathan's dream of sharing the ​theater and the passion he had for it with a whole new generation," added Julie and Al Larson. "None of us could have imagined the massive impact that the messages and themes in Rent would have on the ​theater​ community or the world ... except for Jonathan. We are absolutely thrilled to be continuing Jonathan's legacy and ​the still-relevant ​themes of ​the show in this way."

Jonathan Larson died unexpectedly of an aortic aneurysm on Jan. 25, 1996, 10 days before his 36th birthday.

After a brief, off-Broadway run, his show went on to play on Broadway from April 29, 1996 to Sept. 7, 2008. The original Broadway cast included Anthony Rapp, Idina Menzel, Taye Diggs, Adam Pascal, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Wilson Jermaine Heredia and Jesse L. Martin. Most of the ensemble also appeared in a 2005 movie version.