Best of the week: Sia, Kanye West, 'Last Firefly,' Skrowaczewski and more

In concert and in videos, pop star Sia never lets you see her face. Her first arena headline tour is more like a series of performance-art pieces than a conventional pop concert. In short, the bewigged Aussie tries hard not to be the visual focal point while dancers and famous actors on video screens join her as she offers "Alive," "Chandelier" and other hits. Sexy soul man Miguel opens.JON BREAM

7 p.m. Thu. Target Center, Mpls., $35-$125, axs.com

When Stanislaw Skrowaczewski mounts the podium for the first of two concerts with the Minnesota Orchestra, he will have just turned 93. His account of Bruckner's Seventh Symphony a year ago was a highlight of the orchestra season. His return to lead the Eighth is a must-see chance to hear one of the greatest-ever interpreters of the Austrian composer's work. The Eighth has a beautiful slow movement, ideally suited to the orchestra's rich, powerful sound.

TERRY BLAIN

8 p.m. Fri.- Sat.; Orchestra Hall, Mpls.; $29-$63, minnesotaorchestra.

Insert all the egomaniacal symbolism you want into the fact that Chicago's dually loved/hated hip-hop icon Kanye West is performing on a floating stage for his current tour. At least he's finally landing in the Twin Cities again, after three different cancellations since his last local date in 2007. And how fitting that his so-called Saint Pablo Tour is hitting St. Paul, too, after picking up mostly favorable reviews along the way.

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

"The Last Firefly," a taut and electric one-act, is a classic quest story. An 11-year-old boy is haunted by the thought of his menacing stepfather, and his single mother tells him stories to comfort him. Playwright Naomi Iizuka artfully and elegantly mashes up Japanese folk tales and fables into a play that manages to be simultaneously a fairy tale and contemporary. Her play is as much about a boy as it is about stories we share to help us find our way out of challenges.

ROHAN PRESTON

Ends Nov. 13, Children's Theatre, Mpls., $15-$54, childrenstheatre.org

With the look and vibe of a '60s teen pop star, the always-winning Tyler Michaels is perfect in the title role of "Teen Idol: The Bobby Vee Story." The detailed, true story not only covers 50-some years in the Minnesota pop star's life but showcases other music from the heyday era by the Ronettes, Del Shannon, and others. The Dick Clark bus scene is a boisterous, rockin' highlight. This is a Midwest-centric love story, with only a small misstep, when an older actor takes over for Michaels.

JON BREAM

Treat the family to some fall fun with or without the fright at Zywiec's Corn Maze, now in its 30th year. The new daytime attraction, Big Zombie Hunter Paintball, sends Halloween hunters to dispose of lurking zombies. For older kids and adults with nerves of steel, Zywiec's turns into the Haunting Experience as the sun sets and ghastly creatures emerge.

MELISSA WALKER

Corn maze: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. today-next Sun. $7-$22; Haunting Experience: 7 p.m. Thu.-Sat. $16-$30. Zywiec's Landscape and Garden Center, Cottage Grove, hauntingexperience.com.

With his single "Worry" in rotation every half-hour or so on 89.3 the Current in recent months and ample hype from the U.K. press, bearded, falsetto-voiced British singer/songwriter Jack Garratt is already a First Avenue headliner at age 24 with only one record to his name. He has quite an unusual stage act to show off, though, as he plays a variety of instruments including drums and guitars at once.

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

Shakespeare's influence on music is immeasurable, but VocalEssence will attempt to gauge it. Settings of the bard's texts by seven different composers — including Vaughan Williams and Stephen Paulus — are intercut with snippets from the plays and sonnets, spoken by Guthrie artistic director Joseph Haj. There are also two premieres: "Quilt Songs" by five female composers and British composer Bob Chilcott's "The Voyage" in its first U.S. outing

TERRY BLAIN

4 p.m. Sun., Central Lutheran Church, Mpls.; $20-$40, vocalessence.org

Ben Westhoff, a St. Paul Central High School grad and a former editor at LA Weekly, is returning to his hometown to read from his latest book, "Original Gangstas: The Untold Story of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the Birth of West Coast Rap." With five years of research, Westhoff tells the true story behind what's depicted in the film "Straight Outta Compton." His previous book on Southern hip-hop was 2011's "Dirty South."

JON BREAM