Denise Van Outen
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Denise Van Outen is set to play the role of Maureen in a “new, contemporary” version of Jonathan Larson’s
Rent. This "remixed" production begins performances at London’s Duke of York’s Theatre on 2 October and opens on 16 October.
Van Outen’s theatre credits include starring as Roxie Hart in both the West End and Broadway productions of Chicago, Tell Me on a Sunday, Les Miserables, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Stop the World. She became a household name presenting Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast with Johnny Vaughn in the late 1990s. Other TV credits include guest presenting on ITV’s This Morning and serving as a judge for for the BBC’s prime reality casting programmes, Any Dream Will Do (in the U.K.) and You’re the One that I Want (in the U.S.).
As previously announced, the full cast features Siobhan Donaghy as Mimi, Luke Evans as Roger, Oliver Thornton as Mark, Leon Lopez as Collins, Jay Webb as Angel, Francesca Jackson as Joanne and Craig Stein as Benny. The rest of the cast includes Ruth Augilera, Jamie Sampson, Antony Luperi, Earl Perkins, Lewis Griffiths and Philippa Stefani.
Directed by William Baker, this new version of Rent has been reworked and re-orchestrated by Baker and Steve Anderson, the creative team behind Kylie Minogue.
Larson's show opened at Broadway's Nederlander Theatre on 29 April, 1996 and is still running there. It won four Tony Awards, including the 1996 Tony for Best Musical.
Rent first came to London in 1998, in a recreation of Michael Greif's original staging, where it ran at the Shaftesbury Theatre for 17 months. It subsequently had another West End run, in a different production, at the Prince of Wales Theatre in December 2001.