Stranger Things Star Gaten Matarazzo to Make West End debut in Rent, Plus Dates and Venue Just Confirmed
Published on 19 May 2026
Summary
- Gaten Matarazzo (Stranger Things) makes West End debut
- Rent revival opens on 26 September 2026 as the musical celebrates its 30th anniversary.
- Playing at the Duke of York’s Theatre
Gaten Matarazzo will make his West End debut in the new revival of Rent. The Stranger Things star will play Mark Cohen with initial casting, dates and venue announced today.
Matarazzo will take on the role of Mark Cohen, the aspiring filmmaker and narrator at the heart of the musical, who documents the lives of his friends in New York City’s East Village as they navigate love, creativity, poverty and the AIDS crisis in the early 1990s.
The new production of Rent will open at the Duke of York's Theatre from 26 September 2026 as the musical celebrates its 30th anniversary.
Created by Jonathan Larson, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical first premiered Off-Broadway in 1996 before transferring to Broadway, where it became one of the defining rock musicals of its generation.
Inspired by La Bohème, the show follows a group of young artists and friends living in New York’s East Village as they grapple with relationships, ambition and survival during the AIDS epidemic.
The new production will be directed by Luke Sheppard, whose acclaimed revival at Hope Mill Theatre in 2020 and 2021 inspired this latest staging.
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By Hay Brunsdon
I've over 15 years of writing and editorial experience, and starting working in the West End theatre industry in 2012. When not watching or writing about theatre I'm usually swimming, hiking, running, or training for triathlons in the Stroud valleys.