But Jonathan Larson's dramatic musical about bohemian life in the age of AIDS and urban displacement has yet to show signs of aging, said musical director Stephen Oremus, 28. Oremus and the second national touring company of "Rent'' come to the Shubert Theatre Tuesday for a six-week Boston run.

Oremus said he was "blown away'' by the show's energy the first time he saw it, and continues to believe in its artistic and social impact.

But in one respect, at least, he looks forward to its becoming a period piece.

"Hopefully,'' he said, "one day we'll all be able to look back and say, `Remember when they didn't know how to cure (AIDS)?' ''

"Rent,'' a phenomenal success its creator did not live to see (Larson died of an aortic aneurysm at age 35 on the eve of the Broadway preview in April 1996), has received theater's highest honors, including four Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize for drama.

The show continues to broaden its fan base (which includes a cult following of "Rentheads'' who follow the show from city to city) via three U.S. companies and international productions from Australia to Iceland.

It's been only two months since Oremus joined the second national touring company (known as the "Benny'' company), but he has seen enough fanatical allegiance across the country to confirm the show's cross-cultural, all-ages popularity.

"It has found such a huge audience. Everywhere we go, people are just crazy for it,'' Oremus said, who was as surprised as anyone by the play's seemingly borderless fan demographics.

"When I first saw it (on Broadway in 1996), I thought, 'This is not going to play outside New York,' '' said Oremus, a New Yorker who spent much of his teens and early 20s in the East Village world represented by the show. "I didn't have a best friend who was a lovable drag queen, but I certainly recognized the cross-section of human characters Jonathan created. That was basically the neighborhood I lived in.''

The urban problems depicted in the show haven't changed, he added. "The overdevelopment and rent hikes continue to be out of control. People are having to move to Queens, at this point.''

The Benny company has played more small towns than the "Angel'' company (the original national tour, which opened in Boston and is currently settled into an open-ended run in San Francisco), and Oremus said it has been heartening to see its open-minded reception across middle America.

"What's really amazing is that when you bring `Rent' to cities that aren't Boston, New York or L.A., it's a world they've only seen on television,'' he said. "It's so foreign to them, and there's a real sense of excitement that it's coming to their town. I would like to think it's an incredibly empowering thing for young people to embrace the sort of diversity that 'Rent' represents.''

Aesthetically, Oremus says the show is "absolutely not dated. In my opinion, it will be a long time before it becomes `Hair.' Musically, it covers a wide spectrum - straight-ahead rock, ballads, gospel, pop - and I think that's what makes it accessible to so many people. And even though the costumes have been very stylized for the time, I think (the show's designers) have done a wonderful job in creating their own world. It stands on its own terms.''

If the "rock'' in this rock opera - at least as performed on the original Broadway cast recording - is arguably closer in style to the Kenny Loggins' school of soft-rock than the decade-defining sound of Nirvana, Larson's music is accessible enough to a general audience to let the narrative come through.

"First and foremost, we're telling a story and trying to get across the drama of it all,'' Oremus said. ``The words have to be understood, and the voices have to be heard over the band. 'Rent' couldn't be so successful if it only catered to a specific group of people who just want to hear an awesome rock show.''

But there is room for interpretation within Larson's original compositions, and Oremus promised a more rocking version of "Rent'' this time around.

"The wonderful thing about Jonathan's music is that we all have our moments to bring part of our own musical selves to the piece. You have to honor the score, but there are places where you can add different grooves, different feels to the music, and our drummer (Allen Childs, who has played for David Bowie, Rod Stewart and Julian Lennon) gives it more of a rock drive than you might hear on the CD,'' said Oremus, who plays keyboards in the "Benny'' company's four-piece band of  "real, gigging rock musicians.''

When asked to compare the musical contributions of the various U.S. companies, Oremus said, "It's a touchy subject. I will say that if you weren't too impressed (the last time "Rent'' came to Boston), you might like it better this time.''