Rent has finally arrived in London just in time to cheer up winter London theatre breaks and maybe bring in a whole new audience . Denise Van Outen plays Mimi in the London revival of Rent.The new London revival of Rent began previews at the West End's Duke of York's Theatre Oct. 2. Starring Denise Van Outen and Siobhan Donaghy the rock musical will officially open Oct. 15. Here's what some of the punters thought of the previews:

A Totally New Production for London
Based on the story of La Bohème this totally re-orchestrated, reworked and redesigned production comes from the creative team behind  Kylie Minogue.
The London revival is the first professional staging of the show that has diverged from the original Broadway production. It really is Rent - remixed.
Van Outen plays the female lead role of Maureen. Van Outen made her West End stage breakthrough as Roxie Hart in Chicago  She was also a panelist in the BBC's latest West End casting reality show "Any Dream Will Do".
The cast also features  Siobhan Donaghy,  (Sugababe), as Mimi with Luke Evans as Roger, Oliver Thornton as Mark, Leon Lopez , Jay Webb, Francesca Jackson  and Craig Stein.
The original production of Rent opened on April 29, 1996, on Broadway and continues to run.

The musical is relying heavily on it's myspace and YouTube presence to market itself to a new potential audience. This is great, and some of the cast have been blogging there too.  I'm sure we'd all love a glimpse into Van Outen's thoughts as the pre-production phase is ending but sadly she hasn't got involved so far.

Getting there and tickets
For most people the best thing to do will be to book an all inclusive package deal, train, hotel, tickets and maybe even dinner. You can get some great deals on London theatre breaks.