Best of the Week: 'I Come From Arizona,' Brother Ali, Lee Ann Womack, Minnesota Opera's 'Silent Night'

In "I Come From Arizona," a 14-year-old Mexican-American girl living with her family in Chicago gets accepted into a competitive high school and is given an assignment that involves interviewing family members about their history. But her father has just left for Mexico to visit his gravely ill father and doesn't have proper papers. Keen and caring, "Arizona" is not an overtly political play, but it offers a children's perspective on the immigration debate.

ROHAN PRESTON

Ends Nov. 25. Children's Theatre, Mpls. $15-$54, childrenstheatre.org

While he has transformed himself in many ways since then, Brother Ali first exposed the underground hip-hop masses to his insecurities, personal struggles, hard-fought victories and contemplative attitude on his 2003 debut album for Rhymesayers, "Shadows on the Sun," a collaboration with Ant from Atmosphere that includes such staples as "Forest Whitiker" and "Blah Blah Blah." The Twin Cities rap master revisits the album in full on a short 15th-anniversary tour with a hometown date.

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

8 p.m. Thu. First Avenue, Mpls. $20, first-avenue.com

An award-winning country singer best known for the 2000 classic "I Hope You Dance," Lee Ann Womack has abandoned Nashville in favor of Texas-tinged Americana. Last year's "The Lonely, the Lonesome & the Gone" is a wonderfully soulful exploration, featuring an assertively bluesy cover of the Charlie Rich hit "He Called Me Baby" and such penetrating originals as "All the Trouble," "Mama Lost Her Smile" and "Talking Behind Your Back." Womack understands torch and twang.

7:30 p.m. Thu. The Cedar, Mpls. $30-$50, thecedar.org

After a series of EDM and rock shows, the newly reopened Armory is goin' country. For at least one night. Headlining is "You Should Be Here" hitmaker Cole Swindell (pictured), who just dropped his third album featuring "Break Up in the End." Also appearing are Dustin Lynch, known for "Small Town Boy" and "Where It's At" and opening for Luke Bryan last year at Target Field, and Lauren Alaina, the former "American Idol" runner-up who is due to deliver her third album.

JON BREAM

7:15 p.m. Thu. Armory, Mpls. $65+, ticketmaster.com

Of the many new works commissioned by Minnesota Opera, Kevin Puts' "Silent Night" is the most successful, picking up a Pulitzer Prize in music and multiple worldwide stagings since its 2011 premiere. Set in World War I, the opera depicts an unofficial truce between Allied and German troops on Christmas Eve 1914. Minnesota Opera revives its production for the centenary of the Armistice, with soprano Karin Wolverton reprising her role as Anna Sorensen.

7:30 p.m. Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Nov. 18, Ordway, St. Paul. $25-$168, mnopera.org

William Shakespeare's tragicomedy "The Tempest" gets a vigorous and upbeat production from Theatre Coup d'Etat, balancing the story of earthbound magician Prospero with a sweet romance and the antics of a trio of rowdies. The source of "what's past is prologue," the play begins inventively, with a swirl of actors suggesting the chaos of a shipwreck, and ends with order restored.

CHRIS HEWITT

7:30 p.m. Thu.-Sat. SpringHouse Ministry Center, Mpls. $18-$40, theatrecoupdetat.com

A tricky new exhibition showcasing Mexico City artist Mario García Torres plays with illusions, looping questions and investigations into the Walker Art Center's long-forgotten archives. For the video "Goodbye Goodbye" (2018), for example, Torres picked up disparate footage from 1969 that documented a demolition to parts of the museum. He edits together these archives, completing the story. The artist's first U.S. exhibition also pays tribute to conceptual artists of the past.

Ends Feb. 17. Walker Art Center, Mpls. walkerart.org

Discover the story of Pillsbury's "A" Mill, a national historic landmark and the largest flour mill in the world for many years. Tour the former milling complex, basement water-power facilities and get a view of Minneapolis from the picturesque rooftop deck. During the 90-minute tour of what is now the A-Mill Artist Lofts, learn how the building once operated as a flour mill and how the new hydroelectric plant helps power the complex.

MELISSA WALKER

10:30 a.m. Sat. A-Mill Artist Lofts, Mpls. $18, reservations recommended, mnhs.org.

Many pianists play and record Schubert's sonatas, but few with the insight of Shai Wosner. The wonderful G major Sonata (D. 894) anchors his recital for the Twin Cities-based Frederic Chopin Society, along with Schubert's popular Impromptus. Works by Gershwin, Chopin and Charles Ives complete the program.

3 p.m. next Sun. Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, Macalester College, St. Paul. $15-$30, chopinsocietymn.org