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A big West End revival of Rent has been a long time coming. Jonathan Larson’s classic ’90s musical – which transposed tragic opera La Bohème to New York at the peak of the HIV/AIDS epidemic – was an instant phenomenon, its success somewhat fulled by Larson’s tragic early death on the eve of its opening in 1996. It made it to the West End two years later and has been back several times since, but we’ve had nothing since a low-ish key revival at The Other Palace a decade ago.
Nonetheless, the intervening 10 years have seen the rise of Lin-Manuel Miranda, who has relentless championed Larson and his legacy, most notably in persuading Netflix to foot the bill for a screen version of his other musical Tick, Tick… BOOM!.
So here we are, with the first West End revival of Rent in almost 20 years. It’s helmed by musical theatre man of the moment Luke Sheppard (Paddington, Starlight Express, & Juliet) in a reworking of a version that played at Manchester’s small but influential Hope Mill Theatre during the pandemic era.
Stranger casting
And it’ll come with some heavyweight American casting in the form of Gaten Matarazzo. Best known for his role as Dustin in Stranger Things, at the tender age of 23 he’s actually a pretty damn accomplished musical theatre guy, with roles in Sweeney Todd, Dear Evan Hansen, Godspell and Parade under his belt. He’ll be taking on the the role of Mark Cohen, the aspiring documentary maker central character of Larson’s musical. All other casting is TBC, but it’s a strong start.
Rent is at the Duke of York’s Theatre, booking Sep 26 to Feb 13 2027.
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