Conventional wisdom has long held that serious culture doesn’t stand a chance in Miami, a city known mainly for its miles of beaches and hard-partying tropical atmosphere. With the opening of a massive new performing arts center, that wisdom is being challenged like never before. But will the city’s ambitious cultural plans be enough to convince its residents to take in a play, or an orchestra concert? “Miami, after all, is the city that lost its symphony orchestra, the Florida Philharmonic, only three years ago. An ambitious new design district has yet to generate significant street life. And sun town still isn’t much of a theatre town.”