It may sound like a sketch from "Kids in the Hall" or "Saturday Night Live," but "Rent" has come to high school.

Jonathan Larson’s rock musical about Bohemians living rough in pre-Disney New York City has been a hit since it premiered, and the current generation of young performers grew up with the stories of Roger, Mimi, Angel and the rest. So, it really shouldn’t be a surprise that the Main Street School for the Arts, a magnet school in Hopkins, is presenting the show.

The run, which starts this week at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis, is the "school" version of Larson’s re-imagining of "La Boheme," cutting the running time down and removing some of the rough edges (including the complete song "Contact," which is, um, pretty racy for a lot of mainstream audiences, let alone a high school).

Despite the notoriety, "Rent: The High School Edition" is mainly a way for the students to showcase their musical, acting and dance talents, and to explore the universal topics in the show, says director Rob Thompson.

"This show, though most people think it deals with just sex and drugs, is about how we as humans need to learn to deal with those choices and accept that no matter what the choice, we still need to accept and support our friends in these choices," he says.

Presenting "Rent" also offers educational opportunities, both for the students in the show and those who attend the various performances. After-show discussions are planned, and the Feb. 25 performance is a benefit for the Minnesota AIDS project.

"I think that the most important thing people will get out of this performance is the importance of acceptance and having to deal with the consequences of your actions," Thompson says. "The characters in 'Rent' all have to deal with the choices they make — the good and the bad. They have extreme issues and live on the brink of success or failure and life and death."

"Rent: The High School Edition" runs Feb. 19-21 and Feb. 25-28 at the Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis. Tickets run $19 to $24. (Feb. 25 performance benefits Minnesota AIDS project). More information at 612-340-1725 or online.