Our five faves of the moment: Macy's flower show, 'The Lunchbox,' Rick Ross' CD, more

1 The focal point of Bachman's annual spring flower show at Macy's in downtown Minneapolis is a 15-foot-tall, blank-faced mannequin wearing a stunning strapless red dress with a train made of thousands of red flower petals. Stare if you want. We prefer to Zen out in the global stops of this "Secret Garden"-themed exhibit: amid the yellow, red and orange tulips of Holland; the lush green mellowness of the English cottage (above); in the tranquility of a Japanese garden with its bamboo and topiary toad. Or just soak in the overwhelming smell of the hyacinth. Ah, a whiff of spring.

3 "Abe Lincoln and Uncle Tom in the White House," a meaty and ingenious one-act at the Guthrie, takes place just five days after the terrible loss of life at the Battle of Antietam. President Lincoln is considering signing the Emancipation Proclamation, which will free slaves in the South but might prolong the Civil War. Suddenly, the doors swing open and in steps Uncle Tom, the fictional character from Harriet Beecher Stowe's famed anti-slavery novel. What follows is a crafty conversation, based on an absurd setup, on freedom and slavery, on war and faith. Steve Hendrickson is sterling as the president, and James A. Williams plays Uncle Tom with dignity and majesty. guthrietheater.org.

2 "The Lunchbox" is a feast of delights, one of the best stories about the connection between food and love that the movies have ever seen. In her Mumbai apartment, a middle-class housewife prepares a special lunch for her husband, hoping to restore some spice to their flagging marriage. Then her longtime, everyday bicycle courier makes a rare slip-up, and her husband's delicious meal is accidentally delivered to a widowed accountant whose mediocre restaurant take-out goes to her oblivious husband. A correspondence ensues, and the neglected wife gradually realizes she is falling in love with a total stranger. With deft, minimalist acting, "The Lunchbox" is a remarkably sensual film.

5 OK, Rick Ross, we give up. Your latest collection of songs about living the highly paid gangsta Miami high-rise life, "Mastermind," proves you're about half as powerful and talented as you posture yourself to be, which is more than enough to impress us. Granted, the violent skits and sound bites between songs are way too long and clichéd, but your beefy boasts, semi-repentant lyrics and epic-sized beats slay us this time around, as do the grade-A guest appearances by Jay Z and Kanye West. The fact that neither of those guys phoned in his part suggests that they, too, know they'd better watch their backs around you.

4 Explosions, gunshots and martial noise define "Lonely Soldiers: Women at War in Iraq," Helen Benedict's combustible play at St. Paul's History Theatre. Directed as an immersive, gut-wrenching experience by Austene Van, the one-act portrays U.S. women warriors fighting two battles at once: one against insurgents who wanted them dead, and another against the sexism and misogyny of the men who supposedly had their backs. All seven women have their dreams shattered. historytheatre.com