» ACORNS CIVIC THEATRE. Acorns mounts both community and professional theater productions in its unpretentious South Beach locale. 2100 Washington Ave., Miami Beach, PHONE: 305.673.7730.

» ACTORS' PLAYHOUSE AT THE MIRACLE THEATER. This professional company presents musicals, comedies, and dramas year-round in Coral Gables's very hip, newly renovated 600-seat Miracle Theater. More intimate productions as well as performances of musical theater for younger audiences take place in the 300-seat Children's Balcony Theatre. 280 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables, PHONE: 305.444.9293.

» AREA STAGE. Once located in a storefront theater on Lincoln Road, this presenter of contemporary American drama was long a mainstay among highbrow South Beach diversions. In late 1999 husband-and-wife artistic directors John and Maria Rodaz transformed Area Stage into an ambitious Shakespeare-on-the-beach company. Check newspaper listings for the current project. 2898 Biscayne Blvd., Miami, PHONE: 305.438.9002.

» THE BRIDGE THEATRE. To help bridge the gap between Latin and Anglo culture, this company presents English language productions of plays by Hispanic and Hispanic-American playwrights. Performing Arts Network, 555 17th St., Miami Beach, PHONE: 305.886.3908.

» CITY THEATRE. Each June the company offers Summer Shorts, a festival of 10-minute plays that often includes contributions by national playwrights at the University of Miami's Ring Theatre. In February the company presents a similar Winter Shorts festival at the Colony Theater, in Miami Beach. 1380 Miller Dr., Coral Gables, PHONE: 305.284.3605.

» COCONUT GROVE PLAYHOUSE. Built in 1926 as a movie theater, the Playhouse is now a serious regional theater owned by the state of Florida. It started in 1956, with the American debut of Waiting for Godot, starring Bert Lahr and Tom Ewell. In the main theater and cabaret-style Encore Room of the Spanish rococo-style Grove fixture, audiences enjoy Broadway plays and musicals as well as experimental productions. 3500 Main Hwy., Coconut Grove, Miami, PHONE: 305.442.4000 or 305.442.2662.

» EDGE/THEATER. Nestled into an impossibly tiny space on the third floor of the Espanola Way Arts Center, EDGE presents original musicals and comedies, many with gay themes. 405 Espanola Way, Miami Beach, PHONE: 305.531.6083.

» GABLESTAGE. Adjacent to the magnificent Biltmore Hotel, professional performers stage classic and contemporary theater in a comfortable 154-seat hall. The program features contemporary American and British playwrights. 1200 Anastasia Ave., Coral Gables, PHONE: 305.446.1116.

» HORROR CENTER. In an appealing hybrid of theme-park shenanigans and live theater, actors playing Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, and other creeps interact with visitors who pretend they are on a tour of a haunted house. 2895 McFarlane Rd., Coconut Grove, Miami, PHONE: no phone.

» LAS MASCARAS. Cuban sex farces and other Cuban fare are on the bill at this lively Little Havana theater. Performances are in Spanish. 2833 N.W. 7th St., Miami, PHONE: 305.642.0358.

» MIAMI SHORES THEATER. Once a Paramount movie palace, this building now houses a lively and talented theater organization whose productions include lost classics and rarely done gems from the past four decades. 9806 N.E. 2nd Ave., Miami Shores, PHONE: 305.751.0562.

» NEW THEATRE. The company that calls this cozy 75-seat space home mounts contemporary and classical plays, with an emphasis on new works and imaginative staging. 65 Almeria Ave., Coral Gables, PHONE: 305.443.5909.

» RING THEATER. The University of Miami has a lively theater department with a program that's often as ambitious as - if not more so than - those by its professional counterparts (Broadway legend Jerry Herman is the drama school's most successful alumnus). Ring Theater is the 311-seat home of the university's Department of Theatre Arts, where students stage four to six productions a year. 1380 Miller Dr., Coral Gables, PHONE: 305.284.3355.

» TEATRO AVANTE. This is the city's most successful crossover theater. Works are aimed at middle-aged Cuban-American audiences, but subtitles on an overhead screen benefit non-Spanish-speaking visitors. Each summer Teatro Avante sponsors the Hispanic Theatre Festival, during which international theater artists converge on Miami, often presenting the most provocative stagings around, all in Spanish, English, and Portuguese and attracting a multicultural audience to various venues in the Greater Miami area. 235 Alcazar Ave., Coral Gables, PHONE: 305.445.8877.

» TEATRO DE BELLAS ARTES. Audiences fill this 255-seat theater on Calle Ocho for the eight Spanish plays and musicals staged throughout the year. Midnight musical follies and female-impersonator acts round out the lineup. 2173 S.W. 8th St., Miami, PHONE: 305.325.0515.

» TEATRO TRAIL. Original Spanish-language comedies are presented by this theater. 3713 S.W. 8th St., Miami, PHONE: 305.448.0592.