Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo to make his West End debut in the Rent revival | Section

The Pulitzer Prize-winning Rent returns to London this autumn in a 30th-anniversary production starring Stranger Things’ Gaten Matarazzo in its West End debut.

The rock opera, based on Puccini’s La Bohème and set in New York’s East Village during the Aids crisis, played more than 5,000 performances on Broadway and won four Tony Awards. Jonathan Larson, who wrote the book, music and music, died aged 35 of an aortic aneurysm shortly before its opening in 1996. The musical 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 theater last month Sheppard 2020. won an Olivier award for Paddington: The Musical, is creating a new revival, directly inspired by its Manchester production.

It is the work of the small but impressive Hope Mill, which was established in Ancoats in 2015 with a loan of $ 10,000. It is run by two, Joseph Houston and William Wheltonwho loves music very much. Sheppard’s original version of Rent was played to remote audiences during the pandemic and was played online. The new play is being presented by West End giants Chris Harper Productions and Sonia Friedman Productions, in association with Hope Mill.

Matarazzo, best known as Dustin Henderson in the Netflix sci-fi series Stranger Things, will take on the role of Mark, a filmmaker who documents the lives of his friends. Matarazzo has appeared in several musicals in the US, including Sweeney Todd, Dear Evan Hansen, Godspell and Into the Woods. (Her Stranger Things co-star Sadie Sink he made his West End debut this year in Romeo and Juliet who it lasts until 20 June.)

Another call for Rent is not announced. The show features choreography by Tom Jackson Greaves, who worked on the National Theatre’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and costume design by Gabriella Slade, who collaborated with Sheppard on Paddington: The Musical and the recent revival of Starlight Express.

Harper and Friedman said they were “very pleased” with the 2020 model, which “felt fast, emotional and alive”. They added: “Jonathan Larson’s music is still as powerful and resonant as ever, and Luke has found a way to honor his legacy while making it resonate with today’s audience.”

Sheppard said: “Directing the show at Hope Mill theater was a big change and we were blown away by the response from the audience. West End the audience is close to the heartfelt emotion and raw energy that makes this song so difficult. This is Rent in the hands of a new generation of gamers who love and play this song. “

Rent, which includes songs from Light My Candle, Out Tonight and Seasons of Love, is a “show” for many theatergoers, Sheppard told the Guardian in 2020. The plot also considers gentrification and the challenges of making money in the arts.

Rent will start the theater at Duke of York’s Theatre in London on September 26. In the summer, the creator will be celebrated in the UK premiere of the off-Broadway show The Jonathan Larson Project with a few well-known songs from his repertoire. Library of Congress. It runs on Southwark Playhouse Borough from 9 July to 22 August.