Billie Eilish
The 20-year-old Grammy-sweeping pop phenom assured us with her aptly titled 2021 sophomore album that she's "Happier Than Ever." Not only is she a savvy in-the-bedroom recording artist who taps into the zeitgeist of youthful outsiders and mainstreamers alike, but she is a confident, delightfully eccentric performer, with bopping infectiousness and minimalist aspirations. Along with galvanizing electro-pop treats like "Bad Guy," expect some acoustic numbers, a cherry-picker to transport Eilish to the cheap seats and, of course, Finneas, her brother/collaborator/producer, backing her on various instruments. L.A. rapper Duckwrth opens. (7:30 p.m. Tue., Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, $150-$500, ticketmaster.com)
JON BREAM

'Octonauts: The Great Gup Rescue'
Netflix's cartoon aquatic heroes are now at Sea Life, Minnesota's largest aquarium. This temporary exhibit invites guests to join forces with Captain Barnacles to solve challenges, find missing gups (underwater vehicles) and claim a reward to become an octo-agent. Learn about a variety of sea creatures, design your own gup for the display wall and take a selfie at the "FINtastic" photo op. During select dates, families can meet and take pictures with Captain Barnacles or Kwazii. (10 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through April 18. $19.99-$22.99. Mall of America, Bloomington. visitsealife.com)
MELISSA WALKER

'Orlando'
Best known as a Virginia Woolf novel and a film that made Tilda Swinton a star, "Orlando" is also a play by Sarah Ruhl, which is being produced by Theatre Pro Rata. In all three, the lead is a shape-shifting woman who somehow lives from the Elizabethan era to nearly the present, embodying and commenting on each generation to which she's forced to adapt. (7:30 p.m. Sat.-Mon. Ends March 27. Crane Theater, 2303 NE. Kennedy St., Mpls., $16-$61, theatreprorata.org)
CHRIS HEWITT

Mitski
With help from Minnesota songwriting vet Dan Wilson on her current hit song "The Only Heartbreaker," the Japan-born, New York-educated synth-pop singer is flirting with Top 40 stardom without sacrificing her inventive sounds and often dark, anxious lyrics. She's playing most of her sixth and newest album, "Laurel Hell," on a U.S. theater tour before a summer of festival dates, including Glastonbury and Pitchfork. (8 p.m. Mon., Palace Theatre, 17 W. 7th Place, St. Paul, sold out except for resale, axs.com)
CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

'Compartment No. 6'
Finland's submission for the international-feature Oscar didn't make the final five but it should have. It's a sneaky gem that begins when a scholar boards a train and discovers she's sharing her compartment with an uncouth miner. Forced to share close quarters for a couple of days, they develop a surprising bond in a movie that conveys that seeing ourselves through the eyes of strangers can teach us a lot. (Opening Friday at Lagoon Cinema, Mpls., landmarktheatres.com)
C.H.

'Ruddigore'
The Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company, after staging a grand total of two performances in March 2020, is reopening this G&S parody of Victorian melodrama. The tale of a young farmer/nobleman and his misadventures is reimagined as a film of the golden 1940s — think splashy musicals, noir and screwball comedies. (7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends April 3. Howard Conn Fine Arts Center, 1900 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls. $16-$26, gsvloc.org)
CYNTHIA DICKISON

Chastity Brown
How fitting for this genre-crossing, trailblazing Twin Cities singer/songwriter to open the new Music & Storyteller Sessions series from music industry pioneers Sue McLean & Associates. Other names in the intimate series at the Woman's Club of Minneapolis — a historic, hidden gem of a venue — include Eric Hutchinson (April 1), Dessa (April 11) and Mason Jennings (April 16). Brown, an earthy and passionate Americana folkie, will debut songs from a new album, with blues rocker Annie Mack opening. (7:30 p.m. Sat., 410 Oak Grove St., Mpls., $35-$45, suemclean.com)
C.R.

Vänskä conducts Mahler
Gustav Mahler's Ninth Symphony may be the quintessential piece of art ever created about dying. Not death, but dying. Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra are preparing to record a work that conductors concur is among a handful of history's greatest symphonies. But not before three performances next week that stand alongside January's Sibelius Festival as the destination concerts of Vänskä's final season as music director. The 90-minute Ninth is the lone work on the program. (11 a.m. March 17, 8 p.m. March 18-19, Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $30-$104, 612-371-5656 or minnesotaorchestra.org)
ROB HUBBARD

'Merges in March'
The series that pairs artists for a shared evening of performance will feature a community-oriented movement artist and a spoken word artist. Herb Johnson III and Shanice Mason, aka Lieutenant Sunnie, will address the question of joy in a piece called "Like a Leaf." Both Johnson and Mason contributed to the music, along with DJ Mickey Breeze & Londrelle and DJ Ryan Hayes. (7:30 p.m. Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., Cowles Center, 528 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., $30, 612-206-3600, thecowlescenter.org)
SHEILA REGAN

Tank and the Bangas
A Grammy nominee for best new artist in 2020, this group's frontwoman, Tarriona "Tank" Ball, is a joyful force of modern New Orleans soul. Preparing to drop their third album, "Red Balloon," in May, the quartet has previewed the project with "No ID," a breezy lite-funk tune about going deeper in a relationship, and "Black Folk," a jazz-and-spoken-word celebration of Black culture that feels like a family reunion in the park and big Sunday hats with ribbons. Opening is Cory Henry, the former Snarky Puppy keyboardist who has collaborated with Kanye West. (8 p.m. Fri., Varsity Theater, 1308 SE. 4th St., Mpls., $25-$42.50, livenation.com)
J.B.