Tues. March 27

Robert B. Parker, Boston's best-known mystery writer, has Spenser (of course) going back to 1973 and Jesse Stone, (created in 1997) his ex-LAPD homicide detective who wanted to escape his vices and wind down in our sleepy state. No such luck. It's Jesse who must solve the murder of a radio celebrity in the harborside town of Paradise, in Parker's latest novel, "High Profile." This is the occasion for Parker to speak Tuesday March 27 at Boston University's George Sherman Union (Metcalf Hall, second floor). In an e-mail exchange, we asked Parker what he'd be talking about and he replied "mostly me." We couldn't help but wonder if that got a little old some times. Said Parker: "I've been retracing old ground since before it wasn't old. What makes   it tolerable is that I don't give a speech. I do essentially Q&A   which allows the gig to change, if very slightly, from appearance to appearance. I'm still playing the same music, but I can improvise an occasional variation. On the other hand, talking about 'me,' is  still less boring, I find, than talking about someone else." Members of the general public can pay $25, but if you're a BU student or Member of the Friends of the Libraries you can skate in for free. Starts at 5:30 p.m.

775 Commonwealth Ave., 617-353-3697

Tues. March 27

Do you like rock but have, maybe, a secret passion for chamber music? Did the string sections of ELO turn you off, but the strings used by Nick Drake turn you on? Do you dig Kronos Quartet? Consider 2 Foot Yard. They are a trio: Carla Kihlstedt on violin and voice (in photo), Marika Huges on cello and voice and Shahzad Ismaily on percussion and guitar. They toss some electronic bits in the mix, too. Billboard calls 'em “A head-spinning collection that melds classical virtuosity, folk, soul and pop imagination.” What to expect at the Institute of Contemporary Arts Tuesday March 27: rock, cinematic soundscapes, jazz, Laurie Anderson–inspired currents and global abstractions. Starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $25.

100 Northern Ave. 617-876-4272 CRASHarts.org

Sun. March 25

 Multi-media is the way of the present, at least it would seem that way at the new Institute of Contemporary Art. Actually, multi-media was often the wave of the past at the old ICA. Quite simply put, multi-media presentations get your senses working overtime (to quote an XTC song) and that's a good thing. Consider the ICA's world premiere of "This Place Is a Desert" a live cineman performance inspired by the films of Michelangelo Antonioni. This piece was conceived and directe by theater/opera director and MIT Theatre prof Jay Scheib, in collaboration with media artist Leah Gelpe. What to expect: You'll view portraits of love gone bad in fragments - through windows, reflected in mirrors and through partially drawn curtains, with the action projected live onto a screen above the architecture of the stage. A cinematographer will move through the set to provide a study of four lovers in conflict. Scheib: "The goal of situating these partial-view room is, on one hand, a practical consideration - we use cameras to see up close, to see around corners, and to mediate our experience of Reality amplifying an erotics of the partial view." Whew. That's a big gulp. Scheib calls it a "motion-portrait ... a tool for understanding Reality - and this reality, thanks to technology, is always partially seen and particallly screened." A commentary on youtube culture? Maybe. It sounds heady, provocative, sexy and confronational. Scheib collaborates with Gelpe, who did the smashing video design for "Brittanicaus" at the ART recently. We don't know how this actually plays out or what emotions will be stoked, but we are extremely curious. "This Place Is a Desert" winds up Sunday March 25 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20.

100 Northern Ave., 617-478-3103, icaboston.org

 Sun. March 25

 Five-plus acres of space, 15,000 varieties of plants, trees and shrubs, 1000-plus theatrical fixtures ... and it's all gone after Sunday. It seems like an awful lot of work for a short stretch of time - kind of like a butterfly's life - but there is an awful lot of beauty to take in at the 136th Annual New England Sping Flower Show at the Bayside Expo Center. We managed to go as the sleet was coming down, making the inside even more of a sanctuary. (Last snow of the winter, we're sure.) We marveled at Barbara Zielak's 36-flower design, which won second prize in the Magnificent Mass Design division. We dug Jacqueline Hauser's sharp-angled sculpture and Calla Lilly and Hala design. We smiled at the City of Boston's Parks & Recreation Department's sprawling exhibit which won the Herald's Urban Landscape Award with a comment of "Curb appealing." The soft sound of rushing water was omnipresent; a multiplicity of olfactory delights were everywhere - well, except when the fried dough from the food court area came wafting our way. We marvelled at the birds and foliage in Peter R. Sadeck's exhibit, which had a judge's placard stating, "Small plants and exotic birds make us wish it was our backyard." Our backyard is a concrete court, so we second that emotion. The trade show part of the exhibit hall is pretty tasteful, with the highlight being a stunning butterfly collection, where it was explained all the dead beauties behind glass were allowed to live out their glorious lives - two weeks - and then pinned for eternity. (Sort of like the "Body Works" exhibit that ran at the Museum of Science earlier this year, but featuring insects, not humans.) There's way too much to tell in this short space. We can say there are special events every day - music, food, presentations - and you can partake or just meander the lot at a measured speed. Don't rush it. This is your respite from the rest of life. It's not even that hard to tune out the other people. Just focus on the scenery, breathe in, and it's yours for a moment. The Show, presented by the Mass. Horticultural Society, raps up today, Sunday March 25, and is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission: $20. (Warning: Parking will run you another $12). Check the website below for particulars about different days.

200 Mt. Vernon St., 617-933-4900 masshort.org

 Sat. March 24 

We did not come away from “Oliver Twist” at the American Repertory Theatre’s Loeb Drama Center whistling “Consider Yourself,” that happy-go-lucky tune Jack Wild sang when he played the Artful Dodger in “Oliver!” many years ago. No, we left impressed with the dankness and darkness of the set, the shock of a certain character’s very realistic hanging, the high quality of the acting, and the timelessness of the story. We were also thinking about how well director Neil Bartlett used Gerard McBurney’s music to drolly explain plot, character and mood. Yes, 20-year-old Michael Wartella embodies all that is good about the human spirit, but there’s a lot of evil in the air. A.R.T. vets Karen MacDonald and Remo Airaldi must have had a hoot playing the officious Bumbles, who endure the raising of orphans. One of the best characters is Carson Elrod, a 32-year-old, Kansas-raised actor and NYU graduate who plays both the narrator and the Dodger, and often has to speed-shift between the two. We had a post-show chat.

JSINK:  How difficult is it to switch between the narrator and the Dodger?
ELROD: With a lot of actors, by the time you’ve been acting ten years you’ve done all these roles, from supporting roles to larger roles, and in my first professional play I played five ancillary characters. What’s unique about mine (in “Oliver Twist”) is that I don’t go off stage and come back as the Dodger. The narrator has a soft cut into the Dodger, which makes the audience have to decide which side the narrator’s on. Or is the Dodger the narrator? It asks the question: What’s the agenda of the narrator? I don’t think either are are malevolent. I would say “mischievous benevolence.”. When we read the Dickens novel, which had advantages and disadvantages, you realize the book is 100 percent different from the “Oliver!” musical or the Polanaski film. By the time you get to the end, you can’t believe how many plot lines he ties together! One thing Neil (Bartlett) is true to text is when Fagin (Ned Eisenberg) is in the cell. Dickens lets his own perspective in and it’s similar to my character who can be sarcastic, ironical and biting. Ultimately it is our job to serve Neil Bartlett’s view of the book. It is to a great degree a manifestation of the director’s feelings and desires. My own personal opinion is it’s a dark novel and weird, creepy things happen. One of the things that hits me is when the Dodger brings Oliver back to the (thieves) den, it’s like a crack house with these 12-year-old kids drinking gin, smoking clay pipes and playing cards, as if they were 35-year-old men.