Buffalo News
December 3, 1999

La Boheme: By Giacomo Puccini, opened in 1895.

Rent: By Jonathan Larson, opened in 1996.

La Boheme: Initially puzzled operagoers who soon warmed to the work.

Rent: An immediate hit that won the Pulitzer Prize for drama for Larson. The prize was awarded posthumously; Larson died of a brain aneurysm at 35 after the final dress rehearsal.

La Boheme: Artists live in the Left Bank in Paris in the 1830s.

Rent: Artists live in New York's East Village in the 1990s.

La Boheme: Rodolfo, dramatist beset by jealousy, meets Mimi, seamstress with tuberculosis.

Rent: Roger, musician beset by heroin addiction, meets Mimi, exotic dancer with AIDS.

La Boheme: Rodolfo meets Mimi when her candle goes out and she drops her key.

Rent: Roger meets Mimi when her candle goes out (in power outage) and she drops her drug stash.

La Boheme: Musetta, a coquette, hooks up with rich, older guy.

Rent: Maureen, a ditzy singer, hooks up with a lawyer named Joanne.