The original Broadway company of Rent is coming back together for one night. Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS will present Rent, the 30th Anniversary Concert, on Monday, October 26, 2026, at 8 p.m. at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, 226 West 46th Street, in the Theater District. The full show will be performed in concert, and the evening will also be streamed live for viewers at home.

The in-person seats are already sold out, but there are still two ways in: a $30 livestream ticket and a digital lottery for a small block of seats inside the theater. The lottery closes on Tuesday, October 20, at 2 p.m. Eastern.

Who Is Performing

According to Broadway Cares, a large part of the 1996 Broadway cast is returning: Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Wilson Jermaine Heredia and Fredi Walker-Browne, along with ensemble members Yassmin Alers, Gilles Chiasson, Shelley Dickinson, David Driver, Darius de Haas and Rodney Hicks.

They will be joined by performers who played in later companies of the show, including Natalie Venetia Belcon, Adam Chanler-Berat, Nicholas Christopher, Merle Dandridge, Trey Ellett, Jordan Fisher, Jose Llana, John Eric Parker, Jai Rodriguez, Antonique Smith, Ephraim Sykes and Aaron Tveit. Broadway Cares says more names will be added and that the lineup could change.

Michael Greif, who directed the original production, is directing the concert. Tim Weil is music director and will lead a band of Kenny Brescia, Jeff Potter, Daniel A. Weiss and Steve Gelfand. The concert is produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS with Andy Jones of Baseline Theatrical, with ViiV Healthcare as presenting sponsor. The livestream is being produced with The League of Live Stream Theater.

About the Show

Jonathan Larson wrote Rent, a rock musical that moves the story of the opera La Bohème to the East Village during the AIDS crisis. The show won both the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award. It began at New York Theatre Workshop and moved to Broadway, where it ran for 5,123 performances before closing on September 7, 2008.

For the anniversary, the company moves to the Richard Rodgers on West 46th Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, a few blocks from the Nederlander, where the show spent its full Broadway run.

Where the Money Goes

Proceeds benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the theater community's fundraising and grant-making organization. Broadway Cares says its grants help 494 organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., provide medication, meals, counseling and emergency help to people living with HIV/AIDS and other serious illnesses.

The Gates Foundation has agreed to match livestream purchases, up to a total of $525,600, a number that echoes a lyric from the show's song about measuring a year. That means each $30 livestream ticket is doubled in value for the charity until the cap is reached.

How to Watch or Try for a Seat

Livestream. Livestream tickets cost $30 and are sold through The League of Live Stream Theater, linked from the Broadway Cares event page. The page does not say whether the stream will be available on demand after the night of the show, so plan to watch live at 8 p.m. Eastern on October 26 unless the organizers announce otherwise.

Seat lottery. Broadway Cares is holding a digital lottery through Broadway Direct for 24 seats in the theater's boxes. Winners can buy up to two tickets at $30 each. Entries are accepted until 2 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, October 20, and winners will be notified by email with a short window to complete their purchase.

Resale caution. Broadway Cares says it cannot guarantee tickets bought from third-party sellers, and tickets that turn out to be fraudulent or invalid will not be honored at the door.

Getting There

The Richard Rodgers Theatre is at 226 West 46th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue. The closest stations are 49 St on the N, R and W, and Times Sq-42 St, which is served by the 1, 2, 3, 7, N, Q, R, W and S shuttle, with the A, C and E at 42 St-Port Authority Bus Terminal. All are within a five-minute walk.

Key dates: lottery entries close Tuesday, October 20, at 2 p.m.; the concert and livestream begin Monday, October 26, at 8 p.m. Full details, the livestream link and the lottery link are on the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS website.

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