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Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo to make West End debut in Rent revival
TL;DR
Gaten Matarazzo from Stranger Things will make his West End debut in a 30th-anniversary production of Rent this autumn. The musical, set during the Aids crisis, has a rich history including Broadway success and multiple revivals.
Key points
- Gaten Matarazzo will debut in Rent this autumn.
- Rent is a Pulitzer prize-winning musical set during the Aids crisis.
- The musical has won four Tony awards.
- Luke Sheppard is directing the new revival.
- Rent has a history of Broadway success and multiple revivals.
Mentioned in this story
Gaten MatarazzoHope Mill TheatreChris Harper ProductionsSonia Friedman ProductionsJonathan LarsonLuke Sheppard
The Pulitzer prize-winning musical Rent will return to London this autumn in a 30th-anniversary production starring Stranger Things’ Gaten Matarazzo in his West End debut.
The rock opera, based on Puccini’s La Bohème and set in New York’s East Village during the Aids crisis, ran for more than 5,000 performances on Broadway and won four Tony awards. Jonathan Larson, who wrote the book, music and lyrics, died aged 35 of an aortic aneurysm shortly before it opened in 1996. The musical also ran for 18 months in London, became a 2005 film and has had several major revivals including one directed by Luke Sheppard at Manchester’s Hope Mill theatre in 2020. Sheppard, who last month won an Olivier award for Paddington: The Musical, is staging the new revival, directly inspired by his Manchester production.
It is a feat for the tiny yet enterprising Hope Mill, established in Ancoats in 2015 with a £10,000 loan. It is run by a couple, Joseph Houston and William Whelton, with a particular passion for musicals. Sheppard’s original version of Rent played to socially distanced audiences during the pandemic and was streamed online. The new staging is presented by major West End players, Chris Harper Productions and Sonia Friedman Productions, in association with Hope Mill.
Rent at the Shaftesbury theatre, London, in 1998. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian
Matarazzo, best known as Dustin Henderson in Netflix sci-fi series Stranger Things, will take the role of Mark, a film-maker who documents his friends’ lives. Matarazzo has appeared in several musicals in the US, including Sweeney Todd, Dear Evan Hansen, Godspell and Into the Woods. (His Stranger Things co-star Sadie Sink made her own West End debut this year in Romeo and Juliet which runs until 20 June.)
Further casting for Rent is yet to be announced. The show has choreography by Tom Jackson Greaves, who worked on the National Theatre’s current version of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and costume design by Gabriella Slade, who collaborated with Sheppard on Paddington: The Musical and the recent immersive revival of .
Q&A
When will Gaten Matarazzo's Rent revival premiere in London?
The Rent revival starring Gaten Matarazzo will premiere in London this autumn.
What is the significance of the musical Rent?
Rent is a Pulitzer prize-winning rock opera that addresses themes of love and loss during the Aids crisis and has won four Tony awards.
Who is directing the new production of Rent?
The new production of Rent is directed by Luke Sheppard, who previously directed a version at Manchester's Hope Mill theatre.
What is the history of Rent on Broadway and in London?
Rent ran for over 5,000 performances on Broadway and had an 18-month run in London, becoming a cultural phenomenon since its debut in 1996.
