Gaten Matarazzo and the cast of Rent on living “La Vie Bohème” in the musical’s 30th anniversary year

I should tell you… that the Tom Stoppard Theatre in London almost had its roof blown off last night, as the West End celebrated the official opening of Rent!

Director Luke Sheppard‘s revival of Jonathan Larson’s much-loved musical, an evolution of the hit Hope Mill Theatre 2020 production, was hailed as “uplifting” and “hugely enjoyable” by WhatsOnStage lead critic Sarah Crompton in her rave review. And at the show’s afterparty, we caught up with Stranger Things favourite Gaten Matarazzo (making his West End debut as Mark), as well as his castmates Jeevan Braich (Angel), Danielle Fiamanya (Joanne), Alexa Lopez (Mimi), Billy Nevers (Collins), Travis Ross (Roger), Joaquin Pedro Valdes (Benny) and Lazy Violet (Maureen) to get their thoughts on this in-the-round 30th anniversary production.

You can watch all the highlights below:

The West End cast also includes Baylie Carson, Laura Delany, Ryesha Higgs, Montoya Holloway-Johnson, Rhys Hopkins, Shem Omari James, Hannah Macpherson, TJ Matara-Holloway, Ryan Nixon, Leah Vassell, James Wilkinson-Jones and Kevin Yates.

Larson’s musical follows a community living in New York City’s East Village as they navigate poverty, love and the AIDS crisis in the early 1990s. Inspired by La bohème, it premiered Off-Broadway in 1996 before transferring to Broadway, where it became a defining rock musical of its era, winning the Pulitzer Prize and multiple Tony Awards.

The show features choreography by Tom Jackson Greaves, with set design by David Woodhead, costume design by Gabriella Slade, lighting design by Howard Hudson, audio production and sound design by Paul Gatehouse, video design and cinematography by George Reeve and Nathan Amzi, make-up and hair design by Jackie Saundercock, UK casting by Pearson Casting and US Casting by Jim Carnahan.

The musical supervisor is Bill Sherman and the musical director and associate musical supervisor is Katy Richardson, the intimacy director is Asha Jennings-Grant, the associate director is Priya Patel Appleby and the dialect coach is Joe Trill.

Rent is currently booking through to 29 May 2027, with Matarazzo’s final performance scheduled for 10 January and casting for the role of Mark after this date still to be confirmed.

Tickets are on sale now.