One night in 2008, I was standing outside New York’s Belasco Theatre when a black car drove up and a familiar figure got out. The occupant was Gerald Schoenfeld, then head of the Shubert Organization (now deceased). Later that night, I saw him standing at the back of the house surveying a very atypical Broadway audience for a show called “Passing Strange,” wherein a Black writer-musician with the stage name Stew walked out on stage and (in essence) told the story of his life.

Stew was something of a hipster, a wandering spirit who left his home in Los Angeles for Amsterdam and Berlin. He had a decent following from his career as a solo musician and as founder of a band called The Negro Problem. The semi-autobiographical “Passing Strange” was a collaboration with Heidi Rodewald. It had done well at the Public Theater downtown, and its theme of a protagonist learning that true wisdom comes from family and knowing the inner self, as distinct from living large in European hot spots, was hardly unfamiliar. But this was still a radical move for Broadway in 2008, and not just because it told the intimate story of a Black artist. This was a concert-theater hybrid, experimenting with the era’s limits of what could be called an American musical. And that’s why Schoenfeld had come to a preview; he wanted to see what different looked like.

Viewed now, “Passing Strange” feels prescient. You can see it now at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre in Evanston. Back in 2011, working at the Bailiwick Theatre, the director Lili-Anne Brown and the performer Jayson “JC” Brooks persuaded me that the show could be done with someone other than Stew. Brooks was much the same type of artist and he fit easily into the narrator role and Brown created a chill production using, if memory serves, just a couple of benches. Since then, I’ve listened often to a piece of which I’ve become very fond.

As directed by Tim Rhoze, Theo Ubique’s production offers an immersive experience and an ideal space for this kind of show. There also is a lot of emerging talent in this non-Equity cast, which includes Jordan BeBose as the narrator, aka older Stew, Michael Jones as Stew’s younger self and Jenece Upton as his mom.

But I felt the piece fell into the trap of wanting to physicalize far more than the material really supports. and that created a level of complexity that tended to separate the performers from the audience and from the musical intimacy of the material. The other issue, which should get better as the run continues, is that while there is a lot of terrific bonhomie, especially from DeBose, an enjoyable personality, the level of emotional engagement is not yet fully there. I thought Jones, who does have vulnerability and present-tense involvement, came the closest on opening night, but the show still needs to figure out how to focus and find its core. When it figures that out, everyone will better be able to focus on discovering the heart of these beautiful songs of self-discovery and gradual understanding.

Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.

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Review: “Passing Strange” (2.5 stars)

When: Through July 30

Where: Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, 721 Howard St., Evanston

Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes

Tickets: $45-$55 (plus $30 optional meal) at 773-939-4101 and theo-u.com