by Jack Zinc
Miami Sun Sentinel
January 1, 1999

Promise always seems to beam its way through the smoke of theater's dark passages. That's what kept the carnage of 1998 from overwhelming us. Our best theaters, and players, kept reminding us when we needed it most why we spend three, five or 10 times more than the cost of a movie ticket for the experience of live theater.

Thus, we salute those moments of brilliance at our theaters - small and large, young and old - in hopes they will capitalize on those achievements.

Rent.  Rock music is still an acquired taste for most theater mavens, and theater is an equally learned experience for rockers. But the two worlds blend well in this Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, a modern "rap" on the opera La boheme. The national tour is just as electric as the Broadway version, and it's due back in South Florida at the Broward Center, starting Jan. 5.