Passing Strange is a musical in name only. Really it's an autobiographical concert by the soulful, rotund, endlessly charming Stew. Imagine Reggie Watts crossed with Mike Daisey, hooked up with a backing band. And actors. The results, filmed by Spike Lee (here atoning for Bamboozled), are soul-shaking. An African American growing up in 1970s L.A., Stew liked punk rock and Camus—he and a select crew of misfits felt like they were "passing for black folks." Stew flees for Amsterdam and Berlin where sex, drugs, and performance art crack his American head wide open. Just watching Passing Strange will make you a better person. (Kirkland Performance Center, 350 Kirkland Ave, thestranger.com/siff. 6:30 pm, $11.)