Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo to make West End debut in rent revival
Gaten Matarazzo will make his West End debut this year in a new London revival of the rock musical Rent.
Gaten Matarazzo is set to make his West End debut later this year in a new revival of the hit rock musical Rent.
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The 23-year-old actor, best known for playing Dustin Henderson in Netflix sci-fi series Stranger Things, will take on the role of Mark, the show’s narrator and an aspiring documentary filmmaker.
The production marks 30 years since Rent first premiered on Broadway.
Set in New York during the HIV/Aids crisis of the late 1980s, the musical follows a group of struggling young artists and became renowned for its groundbreaking portrayal of LGBTQ+ lives and social issues.
The revival will be directed by Luke Sheppard, who recently won an Olivier Award for Paddington: The Musical.
He said the production would bring the classic show to “a new generation of performers”.
Rent was written by Jonathan Larson, who died tragically the day before the musical premiered in 1996.
His life later inspired the film Tick, Tick... Boom!, directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Matarazzo is no stranger to theatre, having appeared on Broadway in productions including Les Misérables, Dear Evan Hansen and Sweeney Todd.
The new production of Rent will open at Duke of York's Theatre on 26 September 2026.