Wire report

‘Stranger Things was a train you can’t jump off’: Gaten Matarazzo on his return to the stage

The actor we know as Dustin was a ‘theatre kid’ from age 11. Now he’s starring in a new staging of Rent. He discusses why the musical is as relevant as ever – and what it’s like being a child star in the internet age Rent is a study in both joy and despair. The 90s rock opera spawned the kinds of irrepressible musical numbers – Seasons of Love, Take Me Or Leave Me – that would become Broadway standards, mastered and massacred in choir auditions and high schools across the world. Jonathan Larson’s self-described attempt “to bring musical theatre to the MTV generation” is also a capitalist critique: a drama about a bohemian coterie of penniless creatives sticking it to the man, all while their circle is ravaged by HIV and Aids. It still feels highly relevant today; see: What You Own – sample lyric “And when you’re living in America / At the end of the millennium / You’re what you own”. Gat

Image from linked report: ‘Stranger Things was a train you can’t jump off’: Gaten Matarazzo on his return to the stage
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The actor we know as Dustin was a ‘theatre kid’ from age 11. Now he’s starring in a new staging of Rent. He discusses why the musical is as relevant as ever – and what it’s like being a child star in the internet age Rent is a study in both joy and despair. The 90s rock opera spawned the kinds of irrepressible musical numbers – Seasons of Love, Take Me Or Leave Me – that would become Broadway standards, mastered and massacred in choir auditions and high schools across the world. Jonathan Larson’s self-described attempt “to bring musical theatre to the MTV generation” is also a capitalist critique: a drama about a bohemian coterie of penniless creatives sticking it to the man, all while their circle is ravaged by HIV and Aids. It still feels highly relevant today; see: What You Own – sample lyric “And when you’re living in America / At the end of the millennium / You’re what you own”. Gat

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According to The Guardian’s source item, ‘Stranger Things was a train you can’t jump off’: Gaten Matarazzo on his return to the stage, The actor we know as Dustin was a ‘theatre kid’ from age 11. Now he’s starring in a new staging of Rent. He discusses why the musical is as relevant as ever – and what it’s like being a child star in the internet age Rent is a study in both joy and despair. The 90s rock opera spawned the kinds of irrepressible musical numbers – Seasons of Love, Take Me Or Leave Me – that would become Broadway standards, mastered and massacred in choir auditions and high schools across the world. Jonathan Larson’s self-described attempt “to bring musical theatre to the MTV generation” is also a capitalist critique: a drama about a bohemian coterie of penniless creatives sticking it to the man, all while their circle is ravaged by HIV and Aids. It still feels highly relevant today; see: What You Own – sample lyric “And when you’re living in America / At the end of the millennium / You’re what you own”. Gat

Context

The development sits in VINI’s Technology file for readers following technology, science, product policy, markets, infrastructure, and the public consequences of innovation. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The source item is dated 2026-09-24T07:00:10+00:00.

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Primary source: ‘Stranger Things was a train you can’t jump off’: Gaten Matarazzo on his return to the stage via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.

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