West End premiere of One Day the Musical to open in London
October 8, 2026
100 tickets in the stalls will be released for £20 each for the first preview performance on Saturday 26 September, echoing the musical’s pioneering Broadway rush policy, which famously offered $20 front-row tickets on a first-come, first-served basis. The tickets will only be available to purchase in person at The Tom Stoppard Theatre’s Box Office from 12.00noon on the day. Tickets are limited to two per person.
In celebration of the musical’s 30th anniversary, for all other preview performances until 7 October, front-row seats will be available to purchase for £30 each, in person at the Box Office from 10.30am on the day.
For all future performances from Friday 9 October a digital lottery for day seats will be launched, with further details to be announced.
Celebrating 30 years since the musical premiered on Broadway, RENT will begin performances at the Tom Stoppard Theatre (currently named the Duke of York’s Theatre) on 26 September 2026 with an opening night on 8 October 2026. The production is booking until 27 March 2027.
Set in New York’s East Village, RENT follows a group of young artists, musicians and friends as they navigate love, ambition and creativity while trying to build lives on their own terms. Inspired by Puccini’s La Bohème, the show captures the joy, uncertainty and resilience of a generation determined to make every moment count.
With an unforgettable rock score and a story that still resonates three decades after its premiere, RENT is a celebration of community, connection and a call to live every minute as if it were your last. No day but today.
Joining the previously announced Gaten Matarazzo as Mark, Travis Ross as Roger, Billy Nevers as Collins, Lazy Violet as Maureen, Olivier Award nominee Danielle Fiamanya as Joanne, Jeevan Braich as Angel and Joaquin Pedro Valdes as Benny, will be Alexa Lopez as Mimi, making her West End debut.
Bella Brown will no longer appear as Mimi this autumn. Bella has made the difficult decision to withdraw from the production due to an injury sustained prior to rehearsals.
Alexa Lopez (Mimi) most recently appeared as Christine in the immersive off-Broadway production Masquerade based on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera. Her further theatre credits include Sondheim’s Old Friends on Broadway, which marked her Broadway debut, Cosette in the North American tour of Les Misérables, and originating the role of April in the world premiere of Falcon Girls at the Yale Repertory Theater.
The cast is completed by 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.
RENT has music, lyrics and book by Jonathan Larson.
It is directed by Luke Sheppard with choreography by Tom Jackson Greaves.
Set design is 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 CSA, CDG, CDA and US Casting by Jim Carnahan CSA.
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.
Venue: Tom Stoppard (Duke of York’s) Theatre, St Martin’s Lane, London WC2N 4BG
Opening: 26 September 2026
Performance days:
Monday – Saturday at 7.30pm
Friday – Saturday at 2.30pm
Age guidance: Recommended for ages 14 and over. Under 5s are not permitted in the auditorium.
Content guidance: This production contains adult themes including HIV and AIDS, bereavement, addiction, suicide and sexual content. It also features strong language, smoking, haze and strobe effects.
Performance length: 2 hours and 30 minutes, including one interval.
Captioned performance: Thursday 12 November 2026 at 7:30pm
Audio described performance: Saturday 21 November 2026 at 2:30pm
BSL interpreted performance: Saturday 28 November 2026 at 2:30pm
Jonathan Larson (1960 to 1996) was an American composer, lyricist and playwright best known for the groundbreaking rock musical RENT, which won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Musical. Loosely based on Puccini’s La Bohème, RENT premiered at New York Theatre Workshop on 13 February 1996, ran on Broadway for 12 years and was later adapted into a 2005 feature film directed by Chris Columbus and a 2019 live FOX television production by Marc Platt.
Earlier in his career, Larson received the Stephen Sondheim Award in 1989, the Richard Rodgers Development Grant in 1990 for his rock musical Superbia at Playwrights Horizons, and the Richard Rodgers Award in 1994 for RENT. He also composed J.P. Morgan Saves the Nation in 1995 and the autobiographical rock monologue tick, tick… BOOM!, which was later restaged off-Broadway in a three-person adaptation by David Auburn and turned into a 2021 Netflix film directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Larson died unexpectedly from an aortic aneurysm on 25 January 1996, just ten days before his 36th birthday and on the eve of RENT’s first preview. His legacy continues through his works and through the Jonathan Larson Foundation, administered by the American Theatre Wing, which supports emerging musical theatre artists. In 2025, The Jonathan Larson Project, featuring his previously unheard works, was produced off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theatre.
Travis Ross’ (Roger) theatre credits include the role of Bobby in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Cake: The Marie Antoinette Playlist, 42 Balloons and West Side Story. On screen, Travis is due to appear in the upcoming Apple TV series The Wanted Man.
Billy Nevers (Collins) is currently playing the role of Simon/Alternate Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar at the London Palladium, having previously starred in the production at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. His further theatre credits include the roles of Aaron Burr and Lafayette/Jefferson for the first UK and Ireland tour of Hamilton, Fred in Groundhog Day at The Old Vic, Francois in &Juliet at the Shaftesbury Theatre, and Legally Blonde at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.
Lazy Violet (Maureen) is no stranger to the role, having previously starred as Maureen in Landmark Theatre’s production of RENT. Their other credits include Katherine Howard in SIX The Musical for Norwegian Cruise Line, the UK tour and at the Arts Theatre, and Laura in Public the Musical at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Danielle Fiamanya (Joanne) recently starred as Fiona MacLaren in Brigadoon at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, for which she received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. Her other stage credits include Lily in Otherland at the Almeida Theatre, Second Witch in the UK tour of Macbeth alongside Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma, May in The Secret Life of Bees at the Almeida Theatre, Winnie Mandela in Mandela at the Young Vic, the original West End cast of Frozen at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the original West End cast of &Juliet at the Shaftesbury Theatre and Nettie in the Curve Theatre production of The Color Purple, for which she won the Stage Debut Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
Jeevan Braich (Angel) won the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Professional Debut and the Stage Debut Award for Best Performer in a Musical for his performance as Rusty in Starlight Express at the Troubadour Wembley, as well as being nominated for a Black British Theatre Award.
Joaquin Pedro Valdes’ (Benny) theatre credits include Herakles in The Frogs at Southwark Playhouse, Borough, Alfred Hitchcock Presents at the Theatre Royal Bath, The Lightning Thief at The Other Palace, The Baker’s Wife and Pacific Overtures both at the Menier Chocolate Factory, Death Note at the London Palladium and Lyric Theatre and the UK and Ireland tour of The Lion King.
Gaten Matarazzo (Mark) gained international recognition for playing Dustin Henderson in the Netflix drama series Stranger Things, winning a Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance. On stage he most recently appeared as Tobias in the critically acclaimed production of Sweeney Todd at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Broadway. His other Broadway credits include Jared Kleinman in Dear Evan Hansen at the Music Box Theatre, Jesus in Godspell at Circle in the Square and Frankie Epps in Parade at New York City Center. He also appeared as Jack in Into the Woods at the Hollywood Bowl.
