Margaret Cho's first one-woman show, "I Am the One That I Want," still stands as her best work. She was just finding her way from stand-up to a slightly more theatrical format, and she had a moving, poignant story to tell about the turmoil that surrounded her when she got and then lost her own sitcom, "All-American Girl." With the release of the movie based on that show, Cho became something of a phenomenon.

Now, after writing and producing movies (including three concert films), writing two books, and starring in her own burlesque show on Broadway, Cho is getting back to basics again with her new show, "Beautiful," which comes to the Orpheum Theatre tomorrow. "This is my return to doing straight stand-up," she says, though she won't rule out singing a song or two.

The theme of "Beautiful" will be familiar to Cho's fans. She says she learned a lot about appreciating her own body doing the burlesque show, "The Sensuous Woman," but even after years of addressing the issue onstage, she still battles with her self-image.

"It is still a struggle," she says. "I feel better about myself than I ever have now, and I want to share that. I think it is hard to be a woman in the entertainment world and not be made to feel bad about yourself."

Cho thinks the discussion of negative self-image has become more prevalent, but the big picture hasn't shifted much. She's not sure how she can affect the overall dialogue, but her goals are a little more modest - to make her audience feel a bit better, maybe a bit more beautiful.

"I know how painful it is to feel like you are not," she says, "or how awful it is to feel invisible, which is easy to do if you don't see images out there of yourself, or anything even vaguely representing you."

She also can't seem to stay away from collaborators with Boston roots. Liam Sullivan will open tomorrow's show, Ian Harvie opens for her regularly, and comic/playwright Ryan Landry is a friend.

Next up for Cho is "Two Sisters," a film she directed for ABC Family, and "The Cho Show," a reality TV show for VH1 that Cho says follows her family, "both my Korean family and my gay family," she says, referring to her large gay following. "I love reality TV. It gives me far more control than anything else besides stand-up comedy."