Nocturnal 
Gaten Matarazzo has swapped the Upside Down for the West End, making his London stage debut in a major new revival of Rent at the Duke of York’s Theatre.
The Stranger Things star, best known for playing Dustin Henderson, is now playing Mark Cohen, the documentary filmmaker who narrates Jonathan Larson’s landmark musical. The show has been in previews since 26 September and is officially set to open on 8 October, marking 30 years since Rent first premiered on Broadway.
According to the London Evening Standard, Matarazzo has already been delighting audiences outside the theatre, surprising crowds with an impromptu Rent singalong. Producer Chris Harper has described him as a self-confessed “Rent-head”, according to Yahoo News UK.
What is Rent about?
Rent follows a group of struggling artists living in New York’s East Village, loosely inspired by Puccini’s opera La Bohème. Set during the HIV/Aids crisis of the 1980s, the musical tackles themes of sexuality, addiction and community, and is credited with putting LGBTQ+ stories front and centre of mainstream musical theatre, as the BBC notes.
The soundtrack has become musical theatre folklore, with songs including Seasons of Love, La Vie Bohème and Take Me or Leave Me still staples of the genre three decades on.
The role of Mark has previously been played by the likes of Anthony Rapp, Oliver Thornton and Neil Patrick Harris, meaning Matarazzo is stepping into some big shoes for his West End bow.
A new generation takes on a classic
The revival is directed by Luke Sheppard, who picked up an Olivier Award last month for Paddington: The Musical, currently playing at the Savoy Theatre. This is actually the second time Sheppard has directed Rent, having previously staged a version at Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre six years ago, according to Yahoo News UK. That production’s run was cut short by the pandemic, but producers Harper and Sonia Friedman say it is the version of the show “that London should have”.
Sheppard said of the new cast: “This is Rent in the hands of a new generation of performers who love and adore this piece, and with Gaten Matarazzo playing Mark, it promises to be a thrilling experience.”
Harper and Friedman, working together for the first time, added that Larson’s musical “remains as powerful and resonant as ever”, with Sheppard finding a way to “honour its legacy while making it feel thrillingly fresh for today’s audiences”.
Jonathan Larson wrote and composed Rent but tragically died the day before its original off-Broadway premiere in 1996, never getting to see the impact his work would have. His story was later told in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s film Tick, Tick… Boom!
From Hawkins to the West End
Matarazzo, reported as either 23 or 24 depending on the outlet, is far from a theatre newcomer. He began his career as a child actor on Broadway, appearing in Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Les Misérables, and has since returned to the stage in productions of Dear Evan Hansen and Sweeney Todd.
He shot to global fame playing Dustin in Stranger Things from 2016, when he was just 13, through to the Netflix sci-fi series’ fifth and final season. He’s also set to appear in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s forthcoming film adaptation of the musical Octet, alongside Rachel Zegler, Jonathan Groff, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Amanda Seyfried and Tramell Tillman.
Tickets for Rent at the Duke of York’s Theatre are on sale now, with more casting announcements expected in due course.
