Best of the Week: ‘Beehive,’ Sugarland, New Order, Leonard Bernstein

The crowd-pleasing “Beehive, the ’60s Musical” features the music of women in that decade, starting with cheery (and not-so cheery) songs made famous by Lesley Gore, the Ronettes and the Supremes. The show shines once the focus turns to Brits like Petula Clark and Dusty Springfield and then takes off with tunes associated with Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin and Grace Slick. There are terrific turns throughout, especially by Allyson Tolbert.

ED HUYCK

Ends Oct. 21. Old Log Theatre, Greenwood, $30-$40, oldlog.com

After a five-year hiatus for solo careers, country duo Sugarland is back with a new album, the bright, poppy and aptly named “Bigger.” Jennifer Nettles still has a big, twangy voice that shines on all the big, Celine Dion-ish choruses. Sugarland landed back on country radio this year with “Babe” featuring Taylor Swift. Nettles and Kristian Bush aren’t skittish about returning to state fairs (three are on their schedule) after their stage at the Indiana State Fair collapsed in 2011, killing seven people.

JON BREAM

7:30 p.m. State Fair grandstand, $57-$67, etix.com

Fans of Leonard Bernstein can celebrate his 100th birthday — on the exact month, even the exact date of his birth — with Open Eye Theatre’s “Dear Lenny: Bernstein’s Life in Songs & Letters.” This concert features performances of Bernstein’s music by locals Bradley Greenwald, Prudence Johnson, Diana Grasselli and Dan Chouinard plus readings from Bernstein’s letters to Aaron Copland, Stephen Sondheim and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat., 4 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. Sun., Open Eye Figure Theatre, Mpls., $26, openeyetheatre.org

Last seen in town way back in 1989, influential British synth-rock band New Order returns for only its third-ever Minnesota concert. Singer/guitarist Bernard Sumner, drummer Stephen Morris and keyboardist Gillian Gilbert infamously split with bassist Peter Hook in 2007 and put out a rather dull 2015 album, “Music Complete.” But they’re appeasing fans on tour with a smattering of old favorites, usually including “Blue Monday,” “Temptation,” “Bizarre Love Triangle” and even a few Joy Division tunes.

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

8 p.m. Thu., Palace Theatre, St. Paul, sold out

Minnesota’s Blaq Presence dance troupe teams with Twin Cities writer/photographer Bill Cottman for a project bringing Toni Morrison’s children’s book “The Big Box” to life. Led by artistic director Deja Stowers, Blaq leans on jazz dance for this meditation on dreams and dreamers. Layered with projections and poetic texts by Cottman, the event promises rich visuals and communal helpings of food.

7:30 p.m. Thu.-Sat., Southern Theater, Mpls., $20-$24, southerntheater.org.

The Twin Cities jazz community will celebrate — wow — the 99th birthday of incomparable local saxophonist Irv Williams. The party is a fundraiser for a new scholarship in his name for high school jazz musicians at MacPhail School of Music. Jake Baldwin will lead an alumni ensemble of the Dakota Combo, Pete Whitman will play with his group Mississippi, and Williams is expected to perform with guitarist Steve Blons. Cheers!

JON BREAM

6 p.m. Tue. Dakota Jazz Club, Mpls., $20, dakotacooks.com

The Bell Museum is home not only to a woolly mammoth and a giant beaver, but also to artist Jeff Millikan’s more subtle meditation on the current cultural crisis surrounding climate change. His works are either reinventions of existing taxidermy dioramas, or a photograph of a diorama wrapped in plastic. Mixed in with Bell’s massive makeover, these send a chilling reminder of the fragile state of our environment.

Ends Sept. 2. Bell Museum, St. Paul, bellmuseum.umn.edu

The Bakken and Bell museums and the Minnesota Astronomical Society will present an evening on the science of space. Learn about stars, moon and space travel through hands-on activities. Catch a constellation or maybe a few planets by observing the night sky through telescopes. Take a virtual tour of our galaxy. In addition to the space activities, visitors will also have access to museum exhibits.

MELISSA WALKER

7:30 Tue. Bakken Museum, Mpls., thebakken.org.

Samuel Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915” has become an iconic piece of American music, achingly nostalgic in its evocation of small-town lifestyles of a century ago. That masterpiece closes out Brainerd’s Lakes Area Music Festival, with rising soprano Julia Bullock as soloist. Also featured is Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, another work taking a childlike perspective, painting a frisky, idyllic view of the afterlife in its finale.