A highly publicized television production of the musical “Rent,” which was supposed to be performed live on Sunday, was forced to broadcast material shot the night before, the actors said in a prerecorded video during the three-hour event.

The announcement forced the cast to embrace one of the central mantras of a beloved musical about struggling East Village artists living in the shadow of AIDS: “No day but today.”

In a brief prerecorded video before a commercial break, a cast member confirmed that one of its lead actors, Brennin Hunt, had broken his foot and would not perform. Earlier Sunday, a spokesman for Fox said that Mr. Hunt, who plays Roger — one of the show’s central characters — had been injured while performing on Saturday.

“Most of what you’ll see tonight will come from last night’s performance,” Jordan Fisher, who plays Mark, said during the prerecorded video. Mr. Fisher added that the cast members had “rallied together to rework the final act” so they could perform it live with Mr. Hunt as well as with the original Broadway cast from the 1996 show.