Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo will make his West End debut in a 30th-anniversary revival of Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer prize-winning musical Rent, opening at the Duke of York's Theatre in London this autumn.
A Fresh Take on a Classic
The production, directed by Luke Sheppard, is directly inspired by his critically acclaimed 2020 staging at Manchester's Hope Mill Theatre. Sheppard, who recently won an Olivier award for Paddington: The Musical, has reimagined the show for a larger West End audience, preserving the raw energy and emotional depth that made the original production a success.
Rent, based on Puccini's La Bohème, is set in New York's East Village during the Aids crisis. It ran for over 5,000 performances on Broadway, winning four Tony awards. Larson died of an aortic aneurysm at age 35 shortly before the musical opened in 1996. The show also enjoyed an 18-month run in London, was adapted into a 2005 film, and has seen several revivals.
Hope Mill's Remarkable Journey
The Hope Mill Theatre, which opened in 2015 with a £10,000 loan, has become a launching pad for major productions. Run by Joseph Houston and William Whelton, the venue staged Sheppard's original Rent during the pandemic, playing to socially distanced audiences and streaming online. The new production is presented by Chris Harper Productions and Sonia Friedman Productions in association with Hope Mill.
Producers Harper and Friedman described the 2020 version as "completely exhilarated" and "immediate, emotional and utterly alive." They added: "Jonathan Larson's musical remains as powerful and resonant as ever, and Luke has found a way to honour its legacy while making it feel thrillingly fresh for today's audiences."
Casting and Creative Team
Matarazzo, best known as Dustin Henderson in Netflix's Stranger Things, will play Mark, a film-maker documenting his friends' lives. He has appeared in US musicals including Sweeney Todd, Dear Evan Hansen, Godspell, and Into the Woods. His Stranger Things co-star Sadie Sink made her West End debut earlier this year in Romeo and Juliet.
Further casting is yet to be announced. The creative team includes choreographer Tom Jackson Greaves (National Theatre's Les Liaisons Dangereuses) and costume designer Gabriella Slade (Paddington: The Musical, Starlight Express).
A Timeless Musical
Rent features iconic songs such as Light My Candle, Out Tonight, and Seasons of Love. Sheppard described it as "a gateway show" for musical theatre fans, noting that "it always celebrated inclusion so it reaches very widely across sexuality and gender identity, touching people in specific ways." The plot also addresses gentrification and the challenges of making a living in the arts.
Performances begin at the Duke of York's Theatre on 26 September. Meanwhile, Larson's work will be celebrated in the UK premiere of The Jonathan Larson Project, featuring lesser-known songs from his archive, running at Southwark Playhouse Borough from 9 July to 22 August.
