The 10 best things to do and see in the Twin Cities this week

The mostly behind-the-scenes wiz, aka DJ Mustard, is breaking out in a big way this year. He was featured on Bon Iver’s “Sable, Fable,” played a small role in the film “One Battle After Another,” and performed as the musical guest last weekend on “Saturday Night Live.” Dijon, who may be best known for collaborating on Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” and Justin Bieber’s last two albums, has dropped one of 2025’s most striking albums. “Baby,” his fourth effort, is intimate, experimental, romantic soul music, with shades of Frank Ocean and Prince. Dijon is a finalist for the Grammy for producer of the year, nonclassical. (7:30 p.m. Fri., Fillmore, 525 N. 5th St., Mpls., resale only, ticketmaster.com)

JON BREAM

She relocated to Los Angeles before COVID-19, moved back to Minnesota after, opened a restaurant in Stillwater and started a family. And yet it sounds like Caroline Smith has picked up right where she left off on her jubilant and acclaimed 2013 album, “Half About Being a Woman.” The Detroit Lakes area native and Lizzo collaborator’s first Your Smith album since her homecoming, “The Rub,” arrived in September via the Nettwerk label with a lot of the same strutting R&B grooves and “Tapestry”-ian songwriting, plus some fun sonic upgrades from having the homies of Hippo Campus as producers. After returning to the road this fall, the Whitey’s Bar co-owner is wrapping up her comeback year with this hometown release party. (8 p.m. Thu., First Avenue, 701 1st Av. N., Mpls., $39, axs.com)

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

The much-lauded guitarist from Australia is well-connected. She was hired by Michael Jackson for his This Is It Tour that never happened. She joined Alice Cooper’s band for a couple of tours. She saluted Carlos Santana when he received his Kennedy Center Honors. And she’s gigged with the Hollywood Vampires and collaborated with, among others, Richie Sambora, her former beau. Her solo career has been a bit hit and miss, as her 2025 disc “Some Kind of Feeling” demonstrates. While she tries for some radio friendly songs, Orianthi is more compelling when she gets more emotional, especially on the bluesy, dreamy “What I’ve Been Looking For,” the slow-burn “Ghost” and the explosive blues-rocker “First Time Blues” featuring Joe Bonamassa. (7 p.m. Sat., the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $74.91 and up, dakotacooks.com)

J.B.

An auxiliary member of the indie-rock supergroup Boygenius and a favorite of Paramore’s Hayley Williams, Southern California singer/songwriter/producer Melina Duterte is starting to pop up on some best-of-the-year lists with “Belong,” her first record in six years as Jay Som. The record offers a more polished and elegant version of her lo-fi bedroom-pop, edging on power-pop in the case of standout tracks such as “Float,” featuring Jimmy Eat World’s Jim Adkins. She’s touring with an opener in her own breakout mode, Sea Lemon, aka Seattle dream-popster Natalie Lew. (8 p.m. Sun., Fine Line, 318 1st Av. N., Mpls., $33, axs.com)

This low-voiced octet’s annual “Christmas with Cantus” presentations are visiting nine venues this year, spreading sweetly harmonized holiday cheer to Minneapolis, Plymouth, Bloomington, Edina, St. Paul, Stillwater and Rochester. This year’s program is built around three stories, with seasonal songs interwoven into the tales: “The Velveteen Rabbit,” “The Polar Express” and a whirlwind swirl through “The Nutcracker” (with some vocalized Tchaikovsky). It all starts Friday morning at the group’s homebase of Minneapolis’ Westminster Hall, which, on Dec. 20, also will host both an especially family-friendly version and a cocktail party-style performance. Online streaming is available Friday through Jan. 2. (Fri. through Dec. 22, see website for times and venues, $5-$52, 612-435-0046 or cantussings.org)

ROB HUBBARD

Frothy, frivolous fun is back. Director Christina Baldwin, who co-created this hourlong show with Jim Lichtscheidl and Sun Mee Chomet, is stepping in while Chomet takes a holiday break for the first time in a decade. In “Dinner,” Miss Sophie and her butler, James, are celebrating her birthday again and treating their guests to a multicourse dinner. But the invitees are memories, and poor James has to conjure them, downing drinks and all. Lichtscheidl and Baldwin are joined by actors Joy Dolo and Tyson Forbes in alternating combos. Emilia Mettenbrink returns with clever and comical piano accompaniment. (7:30 p.m. Wed., Fri. & Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 4, $15-$95 or pay-as-you-are, Jungle Theater, 2951 Lyndale Av. S., Mpls., Jungletheater.com)

ROHAN PRESTON

Get out those comfy sweaters. Actor, director and comic wit Greta Grosch is serving up “Plaid Tidings,” the holiday follow-up to ’50s-era music revue “Forever Plaid,” in Bloomington. The homespun show features the four-part singing group the Plaids returning to earth for some posthumous cheer. Actors Theo Janke-Furman, Cris Sanchez, Cole Strelecki and Nate Turcotte play the Plaids, harmonizing under the music direction of Bradley Beahen. (7:30 p.m. Thu.-Sat., 2 Sun., Ends Dec. 28. Artistry, 1800 W. Old Shakopee Road., Bloomington, $35-$50, 952-563-8575 or artistrymn.org)

This exhibition features mostly Egon Schiele paintings, avant-garde and modernist furniture and beautiful 19th-century Persian rugs. The centerpiece of the show is Schiele’s 1913 Expressionist painting “Sawmill,” depicting a dilapidated mill on the boundary of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Ends Jan. 4. (10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue., Wed., Fri.-Sun., 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thu., Minneapolis Institute of Art, 2400 3rd Av. S., Mpls., free, 612-870-3000 or new.artsmia.org)

ALICIA ELER

Forty realistic paintings by Siberian artists Mikhail S. Ombish-Kuznetsov and Alexander I. Beliaev line the walls of TMORA’s second floor mezzanine gallery. Some employ the trompe l’oeil technique, creating a three-dimensional illusion, like a painting of a crumpled bag titled “Wave.” One painting references Nikolai Martynov, the Russian army officer who shot and killed poet Mikhail Lermontov in 1841. These paintings offer a glimpse into life before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Ends March 8. (10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun., the Museum of Russian Art, 5500 Stevens Av., Mpls., $5-$15, free for kids 13 and under, 612-821-9045 or tmora.org)

A.E.

Prepare your senses for an illuminated extravaganza with handcrafted lantern sculptures of all shapes and sizes, the Ameriking Yan Dong Chinese Acrobats and red lantern night market. Eat your way around the globe with a variety of street foods. The ethereal wonderland also features themed photo stations, cultural performances, a play zone and a chance to meet Bam Bam the Panda. (4-10 p.m. Fri., noon-10 p.m. Sat., noon-7 p.m. Sun., through Jan. 1. Open 5-9 p.m. Dec. 24-25 & Dec. 31, $16.73-$27.23, Pan Asian Center South, Maplewood Mall, 3001 White Bear Av., Maplewood, illuminate-us.com)