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 It was 1995.No one had ever seen anything quite like it in Boston. Three silent men with bald caps and blue grease-painted heads took the stage at the Charles Playhouse, beating drums, spraying paint, tossing food, looking quizzically at each other and the audience, questioning authority.
     Those guys - the Blue Man Group - have never left the Charles. They started with “Tubes” and continue now with the retooled “Tubes/Rewired.” (About a quarter of the show changed in 2004.) They perform eight times during a normal week – up to 21 times during holiday weeks. The 524-seat theater is nearly always full.  And it’s not just a local phenomenon. The Blue Man Group has companies in six other cities. There’s also an international touring show called “How To Be a Megastar Tour 2.1,” what they call a satirical, interactive “workshop” on how to create the “perfect rock concert experience.” In May, that tour re-launches in the UK.

Fri. May 14 - Sun. June 27

Oh God help us. A play about the friggin' Curse, that hokum that (I think) started as a knowing goof and somehow metamorphized into something some people actually believe: That when when Red Sox owner/Broadway producer Harry Frazee sold the Babe to the Yankees in 1919, it put a curse on the Boston franchise that wasn't lifted until - what the curse was lifted? by whom? - in 2004. Actually, "Johnny Baseball," up at the A.R.T.'s Loeb Drama Center Friday May 14 - Sunday June 27, only uses the Curse of the Bambino as a jumpoff point for what we're told is an exploration of the "complicated issues of rase in major league baseball as a bellweather for societal attitudes through the 20th century." Whew. Ok, then. There's some heft here. Which, really, you would expect from Tony-winning director Diane Paulus (in photo) and the A.R.T. It's a musical and lyricist Willis Reale and his composing bro Robert have three Tony nominations between them. Playwrite Richard Dresser is known for addressing larger issues; he wrote a trilogy of plays looking at class and happiness in America.

Tues. May 4 – Sun. June 20 

The Boston Pops are celebrating their 125th anniversary. You’ll hear the ghost of Arthur Fielder, the man who was at the podium longest. You’ll see John Williams, the man who has the most Academy Award nominations ever and the Pops conductor post-Fielder. And, of course, you’ll see Keith Lockart, (in photo) conductor and public face of the Pops, entering his 16th season.
   On the Symphony Hall stage: A lot of genres will mix it up this spring.
   They’ve got the Grammy-winning Latin, funk and hip-hop band Ozomatli May 7-8. They’re bringing back Pops’ laureate conductor John Williams and his famous movie scores May 11-15. And Dave Brubeck, the 89-year-old jazz pianist-icon, returns with his quartet for the first time since the days of Arthur Fielder, June 1-5.
    Asked to pick his top of the Pops, conductor Keith Lockhart said, “To my mind, the big event is the Kennedys piece, which is something I’ve had in mind for years.”
     He initially intended it as a tribute to President John F. Kennedy, with Senator Ted Kennedy narrating.  “But when Ted got ill,” Lockhart said, “it took on a whole different context.”

Sat. April 10

My old friend Warren Zevon was once offered a lifetime supply of Stoli if he would endorse the Russian vodka. Now, Zevon was of Russian descent and certainly liked his vodka but even then - before he'd hit rehab - he realized this "lifetime" supply might really be a death sentence. He drank, therefore he was. We're guessing Chelsea Handler, who's smash book was "Are You There Vodka? It's Me," has a better grip on her booze, especially as her multi-city is being sponsored by Belvedere vodka, which Belvedere believes as "a strong point of view on contemporary culture" and "is a vodka with a natural edge, the perfect partner for Chelsea and her fans." OK,then. (Belvedere will host private after-parties for fans.) Now that Chelsea's added a second show April 10 - the 7:30 show is sold clean, the 10:30 one is up now - at the Citi Wang Theatre. We wonder exactly how and when those after-parties will happen. After the second show? Could be one late boozy, night, eh? But a fondness for vodka is just one of Chelsea's traits. The late-night talk show host of "Chelsea Lately," about the only thing we'll watch on E!, provides one of the most consisently hilarious half-hours of entertainment out there today. (Note to hosts who have hour-long shows: This half-hour thing forces less meandering and padding, and a lot less fawning.) Chelsea does, as Belvedere says, have an edge.

Sun. April 4

4 A.D. has been one of those labels where you see a band that's on it and immediately you're interested. Cocteau Twins, Pixies, Throwing Muses, This Mortal Coil, Scott Walker, the National, TV on the Radio, The Big Pink, Deerhunter, Tinderstics ... the list goes on. Add Serena-Maneesh, (or S-M) an Oslo quintet, which is headlining T.T. the Bear's Sunday April 4. The Village Voice raves about them thus: "Serena-Maneesh make strangely bandeautiful and lushly noisy pop using guitars that are alternately washed out or shrieking, distorted samples, and breathy female vocals singing lyrics in broken English." You'll hear bits of My Bloody Valentine, the Stooges and the Velvets. It's led by singer-guitarist Emil Nikolaisen. (In photo: bassist Hilma Nikolaisen). Also on the bill is Brooklyn act The Depreciation Guild, a band who Pitchfork.com claims "packs the midrange full with all sorts of shimmery textures-- the lo-res digital snares land with a static-laden splash, ringing guitars are haloed in harmonics, and stretched along the back is a fluttering curtain of white noise." And opening up is Boston' Black Fortress of Opium, in their first date of the year. The Fortress guys and gals call this bill "Vikings & Poppies in Harmony," and a show which "promises to be an intensely pleasurable evening of trippy low-end swirl."
   Black Fortress of Opium was formed in 2006 by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ajda the Turkish Queen and guitarist Tony Savarino. The band released it's self-titled debut in 2008. They call their songs "tales of life, love, devotion and the human condition" and their sound "a unique Turkish-Texan blend of rock, folk, blues, and world musics the band has dubbed Gothicana.

 Hot on the heels of releasing their music video last fall, Black Fortress of Opium has been in the studio since January crafting a  The new record features many engineers, including Martin Bisi, as well as several Boston recording luminaries, and numerous musicians.  Brian Viglione, favorite son formerly of The Dresden Dolls, plays drums on most of the tracks on the new record.  Dave Yanolis (ex-Nisi Period) played bass on the album, and joins the live act. Yuri Zbitnoff (ex-Enuma Elish) will be playing drums for this show.  Show starts at 9. Tix: $10.
 
10 Brookline St., Cambridge, 617-492-0082 www.ttthebears.com