La vie bohème! Stars you may not have known have performed in Rent

We all know how to measure a year, but did you know how many stars have appeared in Rent?

The original cast of Jonathan Larson’s rock musical featured the likes of a then-unknown Idina Menzel, Anthony Rapp, and Adam Pascal, to name a few. Since then, a host of talent have followed in their footsteps, and the next to join ranks is Gaten Matarazzo in his West End debut. Here are just some of the Rent family who you might be surprised to learn have a history with the show.

Annaleigh Ashford

Broadway star Annaleigh Ashford is just one of the many talents who have moo’d as Maureen, and has defied gravity, too – just like Menzel, Caissie Levy, Eden Espinosa and more. Ashford was in the 2011 New World Stages revival and has since appeared in musicals including Kinky Boots, Sunday in the Park with George and Sweeney Todd. 

Mel B

It must have been pretty scary for Spice Girl Mel B to make her Broadway debut in a role as defined as Mimi, but she did in 2004. She returned over ten years later as Roxie Hart in Chicago.

Nicholas Christopher

Currently nominated for a Tony Award for his performance in Chess (opposite another star on this list, no less), Nicholas Christopher made his Off-Broadway debut as Tom Collins in the 2011 revival. He is another actor who has also starred in In The Heights, playing Benny on tour. The show, of course, was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who then directed the musical film of Larson’s tick, tick… Boom!. You’ll pick up on a lot of strong Larson to Miranda connections.

Joey Fatone

Yes, that Joey Fatone of N*SYNC fame made his Broadway debut as Mark in 2002. We wonder if then he could have ever predicted that his songs would be in another Broadway musical, & Juliet, more than 20 years later?

Tom Francis

Let it be known that before he walked the streets of London and New York singing “Sunset Boulevard” and auditioned to be the next James Bond, he made his professional debut as Roger in Rent at the Hope Mill. It is that production, reimagined, that is transferring to London later this year. Funnily enough, we were in fact one of the first to-camera interviews Francis ever did!

Renée Elise Goldsberry

The actress has originated iconic roles on stage, including Nettie in The Color Purple and Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton (earning the Tony!), but equally as iconic, she was the last Mimi Márquez in the original Broadway production of Rent. You can see her in action as Mimi and as Angelica whenever you like in the filmed versions of the musicals.

Neil Patrick Harris

Before he suited up for How I Met Your Mother, Harris started his stage career in 1997, touring as Mark in Rent. He has always been proud of these beginnings, even satirising the role when he hosted SNL in 2009. The next year, he directed a star-studded (many of the cast are on this list) production of the musical at the Hollywood Bowl.

Vanessa Hudgens

Not long after first breaking free – and through – in the High School Musical movies, Vanessa Hudgens played Mimi at the Hollywood Bowl. Nine years later, she returned to the musical, this time as Maureen, in Rent: Live!, which assembled an all-star cast including Jordan Fisher and Brandon Victor Dixon.

Lucie Jones

WhatsOnStage favourite and West End legend Lucie Jones played Maureen in the 20th anniversary tour of Rent. This was after her competing in The X Factor and a year before she represented the UK in Eurovision. Lucky for us, she returned to the theatre, appearing in Wicked (yet another Elphaba from a Maureen!), Waitress, Les Misérables, 13 Going on 30, and much more.

KO

Formerly known as Karen Olivo, the performer originated the role of Vanessa in In the Heights and Satine in Moulin Rouge!, and they are, to date, the first and only performer to ever earn a Tony Award for their performance in West Side Story. Before all of this, KO left school in 1997 to join the original Broadway production of Rent as a swing and understudy for Mimi and Maureen, then took the role of Mimi on full-time on tour.

Caissie Levy

WhatsOnStage Award nominee and recent star of Next to Normal in the West End, Caissie Levy first landed her role doing the tango Maureen in a tour of Rent a week after graduating in 2002. It was her shot at stardom, and she is also a 2026 Tony Award nominee.

Leslie Odom Jr

Before he was Aaron Burr, sir, Leslie Odom Jr was credited as “Paul, a cop and others” in Rent. At age 17, the 1998 role marked his Broadway debut, where he went on to achieve stardom (and win a Tony Award) in Hamilton – a role he will be reprising in the West End this summer.

John Partridge

Soon set to play Hannibal Lecter in the first stage tour of The Silence of the Lambs, Partridge jetted over Europe to play Roger in Rent on tour. Alongside a variety of stage credits, he is probably best known for the role of Christian Clarke in EastEnders. 

Sherie Rene Scott

Performing then, in 1997, as Sherie Scott, she played Maureen on Broadway. Scott is perhaps best known for her role as Cathy in The Last Five Years, where she performed the two-hander opposite Norbert Leo Butz, another actor who has appeared in Rent! Interestingly, Butz went on to originate the role of Fiyero in Wicked – another role played by a plethora of people on this very list!

Michaela Antonia Jaé Rodriguez

The Pose superstar first appeared in Rent while at college, and by chance, Broadway’s original Joanne, Fredi Walker-Browne, was in the audience for a performance. Walker-Browne encouraged Rodriguez to audition for the then-upcoming Off-Broadway revival of the musical, and she landed the part of Angel. A defining and pivotal role for the performer in both their career and personally, her Angel was “genderqueer”, and after the run was over, she transitioned.

Nicole Scherzinger

Before she decorated her mantelpiece with her WhatsOnStage, Olivier and Tony Awards, Nicole Scherzinger performed as Maureen at the Hollywood Bowl. It marked her stage debut before playing Grizabella in Cats and the legendary Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard.

Aaron Tveit

In yet another Rent universe crossover, a second Moulin Rouge! alum, Aaron Tveit, made his professional debut as Steve in the national tour. After that, he returned to school before finding widespread success across stage, notably in Hairspray, Next to Normal and Wicked, and screen before returning to play Roger at the Hollywood Bowl. Tveit is one of many Rent performers who went on to play Fiyero, including the aforementioned Butz and also Sebastian Arcelus, who made his Broadway debut as a swing.

Layton Williams

This WhatsOnStage Award and Olivier winner, and current Tony Award nominee, played Angel on the 20th anniversary tour, which toured the UK in 2016. Following a childhood performing in Billy Elliot, Williams has gone on to lead Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Cabaret and appear in the West End and Broadway casts of Titanique. A superstar and you do know it.