by John Fleming
St. Petersburg Times
January 1, 1999

Traditionally, the performing arts season is regarded as running from June through May, but because this issue of Weekend covers the calendar year, my list of the best in classical music, theater and dance draws from the second half of the 1997-98 season and the first half of the 1998-99 season. Here are 10 performances I think back on fondly as the year turns.

Rent at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center in April. The book of the late Jonathan Larson's rock musical will seem dated someday -- already, AZT is no longer the AIDS treatment of choice, Doc Martens are out and there's a Gap in the East Village. But as long as there are youthful actors to sing their hearts out, the music will always sound fresh. Of the three Rent companies I have caught, the one that played Tampa Bay was the loudest and sexiest, which made it the best production of them all.