In a show of solidarity during this challenging time, stage actors, singers, and musicians from the ASEAN region have come together to perform one of world's most recognisable musical anthems

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, a year in the life?
How about love?

In what has thus far been a tough year for everyone, these words taken from Jonathan Larson's Seasons of Love, the soaring anthem in the musical Rent, resonate more than ever. As we strive to return to some form of normalcy in our lives, an epic cover of the song made its debut on YouTube last night, featuring over 70 stage actors, singers and musicians across Southeast Asia.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused theatres to shut down indefinitely, causing performers, crew members, musicians, composers, writers, directors, costume makers, set builders, lighting operators, venue operators, and everyone else in the ecosystem to face an uncertain future. To show their solidarity not just as "a collective or an industry or a country, but as a region", theatre performers from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Philippines have come together to sing in one voice, assuring us that live theatre will return to entertain and inspire us once again.

Watch the performance below that also features such well-known Malaysian names as Peter Ong, Tan Soo Suan, Sean Ghazi, Ida Mariana, Joshua Gui and Puan Sri Tiara Jacquelina.