THEATER REVIEW: "The Gospel According to James" ★★★ Through June 12 at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave.; Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes; Tickets: $20-$50 at 773-871-3000 and victorygardens.org. With Andre De Shields and Linda Kimbrough.

As America has finally come to confront its racist past, many of its darkest moments of social unrest have become the subject of investigations and narrative reconstructions. But time and again — I'm thinking here about the abduction and killing of Emmett Till in Money, Miss., in 1955 or the murders of the civil rights workers near Philadelphia, Miss., in 1964 or any number of other shadowy crimes where people still hide in the shadows, making claims and counterclaims — whatever truth and reconciliation that might flow from a full accounting has been hampered by the limits of memory and the perpetuation of personal agendas.

Many of these atrocities took place in backwaters, where the races intermingled, especially the young. And yet history shows us that the fruits of limited education and opportunities, and sometimes common economic deprivation, exploded in anger and hurt. And so as documentarians, investigators, filmmakers and journalists have tried to find out the truth about myriad unsolved hate crimes from the early and mid-20th century, different, aging people have told their different, aging stories from different, ever-young points of view. In some cases the full truth — the convictable truth — has proved as elusive now as then.

That is the backdrop to “The Gospel According to James,” Charles Smith's ambitious, dramatic and thoughtful meditation on a doubling lynching that took place in 1930 in Marion, Ind.

 
"The Mommies — A Musical Blog" is currently playing in Orlando and opens soon in Chicago at the Royal George Theatre Center — along with several other cities. Tickets go on sale soon.

On Sunday, “White Noise,” an edgy new musical about a neo-Nazi singing group, closed several weeks earlier than hoped. But the Royal George Theatre already has a replacement booked for its main stage: “The Mommies — A Musical Blog.”

Not much carryover audience, I'd venture.

That diametric change in programming reflects a fact of life for a theater that rents out its space. But the fascinating contrast of those two shows also reflects the huge variance in the ways theater artists consider, or don't consider, their audience.

Along with its creative problems, “White Noise” had to overcome the tricky issue of persuading people to plunk down their money and spend some quality time with white supremacists. Even if the book gets fixed (it badly needs fixing, although the performances were mostly strong and the score already contains a little clutch of terrific songs), it's not hard to see that this issue will dog the show, which is still pondering a Broadway run. “White Noise,” which was produced by Whoopi Goldberg, is a cautionary tale and makes the valid point that neo-Nazis still exist and permeate mainstream culture. It also has guts. Still, it has to figure out its audience.

“Mommies” creator Jeanie Linders does not have to figure out her audience. She already did. Before she created the show. It is mothers, ages 22 to 42 and living with young children. You might notice the title makes that pretty clear.

 
Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art has announced its 2011-12 slate of live shows. It's an eclectic array for the fall:

• Jenny Magnus and Curious Theatre Branch present a behind-the-scenes look at the theater in “Still in Play: A Performance of Getting Ready” (Sept. 15-17).
• The Japanese-American dance duo Eiko and Koma (above) perform their newest work, “Raven,” among others (Sept. 22-24).
• The International Contemporary Ensemble performs three separate concerts on Oct. 5, Feb. 5 and May 26, 2012.
• The director-choreographer Faustin Linyekula joins a small group of dancers for “more more more ... future,” a piece about the history and struggles of the Congo. (Oct. 20-22).
• Lucky Plush Productions, in collaboration with 500 Clown, presents “The Better Half,” a dance-theater piece inspired by the Ingrid Bergman movie “Gaslight.” (Oct. 27-29 and Nov. 3, 5 and 6).
• The Liz Lerman Dance Exchange stages “The Matter of Origins,” a multi-media dance piece about the start of the universe and other deep matters, scientific and religious. (Nov. 10-13).
• Tsukasa Taiko returns with Taiko Legacy 8, a further celebration of Japanese culture through drumming, dance and improvisations (Dec. 17-18).

In January, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago will be in residence with a new-works festival. Vocalist Diamanda Galás will perform in February and the musical group eighth blackbird in March. At the end of March, Teatr Zar of Poland will present the Grotowski-esque “The Gospels of Childhood Triptych” (in association with the Goodman Theatre). Performance artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph appears in April, as does the work of choreographer Karole Armitage. In May, director John Jota Leaños helms a multi-media piece about cultural taboos, “Imperial Silence: Una Ópera Muerta.” And the season ends in June with Luna Negra Dance Theater.

 
The hit American Theater Company production of "The Original Grease" is having a re-opening of sorts on Saturday afternoon. There have been further changes.

"Jim (Jacobs) and I have been continuing to work on the show," said PJ Paparelli, the director. "He said to me that he did not think we were done."

The outer frame, wherein various actors have played the adult versions of the iconic characters, has been tightened, rewritten and refocused, Paparelli said.

In the 2.0 version, which officially debuts Saturday at a performance in front of Taft High School alumnae, the flashback frame consists only of the characters of Patti and Eugene. The other older actors are no longer in the show. "They were very understanding," Paparelli said. "They understood that it has changed."

There have also been some cuts in the dialog; the running time is now at least 10 minutes shorter.

Paparelli also said that Jacobs has been deluged with rights requests for the new/old "Grease," but has not yet granted any permissions to other productions. "He wants people to come to Chicago and see it," Paparelli said.

People are certainly coming. "The Original Grease" is soon to announce an extension that will have the show playing all summer.

Nina Metz reviews "Aces" ★★★½, the new comedy from Jon Steinhagen set in a Las Vegas grind joint, circa 1975. It's a world premiere, staged at the Signal Ensemble Theatre.

 
Conan O'Brien taping his show "Conan" on TBS in 2010.

At the TBS Upfront presentations in New York Wednesday morning, Conan O'Brien said that his late-night TBS talk show would be hitting the road. He'll head to the Beacon Theatre in New York this fall. And then, sometime in 2012, to Chicago for a week of shows.

O'Brien was last here with a TV show in 2007.

 
The United Center stage for "Surprise Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular." | PHOTO GALLERY

Tuesday's taping of the penultimate "Oprah Winfrey Shows" at the United Center surely brought together more celebrities out on a single stage than has ever happened before in Chicago, a town without Oscars or Tony Awards or even Kennedy Center Honors, and thus without annual parades of the famous.

Those of us who were at the United Center certainly got a show.

Tom Hanks. Usher. Tyler Perry. Beyonce. Tom Cruise. Stevie Wonder. Aretha Franklin. Usher. Alicia Keys. Patti LaBelle. Josh Groban. Kristin Chenoweth (singing "For Good" from "Wicked"). Katie Holmes. Maria Shriver. Diane Sawyer. Simon Cowell. Rascal Flatts. Halle Berry. Queen Latifah. Jamie Foxx. Madonna. Michael Jordan. Will Smith. Maya Angelou. Jerry Seinfeld.

To name just a few.

At one point in the evening,  Winfrey (for whom the contents were a producer-generated surprise) said that she'd have to watch the show on tape to see "what went on here." I'm not entirely sure myself. I'll have to ponder further. But I will say this. Harpo Studios has a remarkable production team. They are, of course, primarily a TV production team, but they've surely proven their chops at live entertainment.

Not surprising. I was at a taping at Harpo last week and saw a surprising number of familiar faces. Plenty of the staffers have worked, and many still work, in the Chicago theater.

 
THEATER REVIEW: "Murder for Two – A Killer Musical" ★★ Through June 19 Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Navy Pier; Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes; Tickets: $25-$30 at 312-595-5600 or www.chicagoshakes.com. With Joe Kinosian and Alan Schmuckler.

In “Murder for Two — A Killer Musical,” the campy new whodunit at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, two piano-playing actors play 14 characters. Or more precisely, the actor Alan Schmuckler plays the police officer trying to solve a country-house murder, while Joe Kinosian, who co-wrote this frenetic, 90-minute show with Kellen Blair, plays all 13 of the suspects.

“Murder for Two” partly follows the playbook of successful shows like “The 39 Steps,” wherein four actors play something like 140 characters, and partly spoofs the traditional setup (detective, isolated locale, array of suspects with ample motives) of Agatha Christie murder mysteries such as “Ten Little Indians.” Second City is currently doing something similar on Norwegian cruise ships. “Murder for Two,” which also recalls John Kander and Fred Ebb's “Curtains,” also throws an original score into the mix (music by Kinosian, lyrics by Blair).

Such tours de force can be fun for an audience (and, with only two actors, profitable for summer-stock theaters). Indeed, “Murder for Two,” which is premiering as part of CST's new-works initiative, has its amusements. You'll laugh at some of the shtick.

But director David H. Bell's production forgets a couple of crucial truths. Shows with actors playing multiple characters only really work if the actors disappear inside the roles. Kinosian doesn't disappear anywhere. He's certainly a very entertaining personality with a plethora of talents and eye-popping energy. But if he got any bigger or showier, he'd be holding back the tides of Lake Michigan.

"The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity," the hit show by Kristoffer Diaz that premiered at Chicago's Victory Gardens Biograph Theatre under the direction of Eddie Torres, won an Obie Award Monday night in New York for Best New American Play.

"Chad Deity" was subsequently staged by Torres at New York's Second Stage Theatre with most of its original cast intact. The piece is still on the agenda of Fox Theatricals for a potential future Broadway staging.

Steppenwolf's Laurie Metcalfe was honored for her performance in "The Other Place," while fellow ensemble member Austin Pendleton was honored for his remarkable direction of "The Three Sisters" at the Classic Stage Company.

 
The initial six-week run of Jonathan Berry's remarkable production of "Festen" has completely sold out. On Tuesday at noon, Steep Theatre is to put on sale a slew of new performances, including additional Sunday shows and an added four more weeks. "Festen" will now play through July 10. Steep's Peter Moore say the extension means another 1,150 seats will be available.

Meanwhile, Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre also has a hit on his hands. The hit revue "Some Enchanted Evening: The Songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein" has extended a second time. The show will now play through July 3.