To add my two cents to the Mimi dying discussion:
In the (absolutely horrid) production of RENT over here in the Netherlands Mimi did die at the end.
Ivo van Hove (the guy who directed this bloody mess) had the wonderful idea of having a still frame of Mimi's face (from Mark's camera) on a the TV-screens on stage and projected onto the back wall of the stage, while Mimi herself lay dead on a table.
Even though she wasn't moving and the images remained frozen on the screens, her "I jumped over the moon..." dialogue could be heard, making it impossible for the audience to determine whether she came back or not.
To complete the trainwreck, the whole cast sat on chairs in one long row, their backs to the audience, while singing the Finale B; spazzing out at the same time.
This production sucked, BIG time....*ugh*
Anyway, I don't think Mimi should die at the end of the show, since this clear deviation from the original La Bohème was a deliberate choice by Mr Larson - the message was about life, not death.
Sorry for this kinda off-topic contribution...
We have to burn our past behind us - and YOU are the first one I'm going to burn!