Best of the Week (Jan. 19-26): Minnesota Opera's 'Flight,' Your Smith, 'Pepperland,' Vulcan Fun Day, MLK celebrations, more

A refugee is stranded in an airport, unable to go anywhere because he has no passport. It sounds like a metaphor for 2020, but Jonathan Dove's opera "Flight" actually premiered two decades ago at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in England. "Flight" comes to Minnesota Opera in a production originally seen at Opera Parallèle in San Francisco, featuring countertenor Cortez Mitchell as the Refugee. "Since it was first performed, 'Flight' hasn't got less funny," Dove explains. "But its darker aspect has become, if anything, more topical." Terry Blain

Opens 7:30 p.m. Sat.; also 7:30 p.m. Jan. 28 & 30, 8 p.m. Feb. 1, 2 p.m. Feb. 2. Ordway Center, St. Paul. $25-$215, 612-333-6669 or mnopera.org.

Minnesota fans still know her as Caroline Smith, but the former folk-pop strummer changed her stage name to Your Smith after moving to Los Angeles and growing into a soulful, R&B-infused singer, as evidenced by her 2014 Lizzo collaboration "Let 'Em Say." She just dropped her second effort under the moniker: the breezy but lyrically empowered and infectiously groovy EP "Wild Wild Women," boasting the bittersweet single "Man of Weakness." New Zealander Chelsea Jade opens her homecoming gig.

Chris Riemenschneider

8 p.m. Tue. Fine Line, Mpls. Sold out.

Sgt. Pepper lives on in choreographer Mark Morris' "Pepperland," a new imagining of the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Morris created the evening-length work for Liverpool in 2017, the album's 50th anniversary. It features new compositions and jazzified sendups of tunes from the album by pianist Ethan Iverson (ex- Bad Plus) as well as "Penny Lane," onto which Morris sets his surprising, subversive choreography. Look for a story in Thursday's Variety section.

Sheila Regan

The Bold North shows off its frostiest attractions on Vulcan Fun Day during the St. Paul Winter Carnival. The Fire King and his rabble-rousing Vulcan Krewe will lead a day of outdoor diversions. Meet the newly anointed Vulcans and royal family. Ride the giant snow slide ($2) and take off on a kids' snow treasure hunt. Vote on your favorite snow sculpture. Warm-blooded volunteers will take the Snow Park Polar Plunge for Special Olympics Minnesota.

Melissa Walker

9 a.m.-3 p.m. next Sun. State Fairgrounds, Falcon Heights. Free, mnsnowpark.com.

Seattle's Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio nods to its influences in tunes like "Little Booker T" and "Al Greenery." But this mostly improvisational soul-jazz instrumental combo has been known to pull out anything from Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" to Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady" to the Temptations' "My Girl." The five-year-old group's debut, "Close But No Cigar," reached No. 1 on Billboard's contemporary jazz chart in 2018.

Jon Bream

All My Relations Gallery celebrates 20 years of showcasing contemporary Native artists with "Foresight," a beautiful alumni show. Standouts include two paintings by Jim Denomie that poke fun at settler/colonial mentality through imagined conversations between a Native person and a "cowboy," and Graci Horne's video/installation "Grandmother's Prayer," an examination of rape culture and the effects of colonialism on Native families.

Alicia Eler

9 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 9-6 Sat. Ends Feb. 2. All My Relations, 1414 E. Franklin Av., Mpls. Free, allmyrelationsarts.com.

Two of Minnesota's finest gospel-trained singers spearhead Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations. Versatile Ginger Commodore, who sings with Moore by Four and has performed at Penumbra and Chanhassen, leads an ensemble at the Dakota including Julius Collins of Greazy Meal and Jesse Larson of "The Voice." Over at Crooners, mighty and masterful Robert Robinson shows why he's been called a genre unto himself.

J.B.

For 20 years Wargo Nature Center in Rice Creek Chain of Lakes Park Reserve has embraced winter with an annual Snow Day event. Get active by hitting the grounds on a fat-tire bike, careening across the snow on a kicksled or even ice fishing. Many outdoor activities will be offered, as well as winter-themed crafts.

M.W.

1-4 p.m. Sat. Wargo Nature Center, Lino Lakes. Free, anokacounty.us.

Have you ever fancied singing a Schubert song in public? Now's your chance. "Schubert Karaoke" is organized by the Lied Society, which provide the pianists and sheet music. There are 200 songs to choose from, in whatever key suits your voice best. Classical MPR's Steve Staruch hosts.

T.B.