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WESTERN HEMISPHERE"S OLDEST FULL-SCALE ELIZABETHAN STAGE HAS HIDDEN LIFE The Allen Elizabethan Theatre opens for summer shows, this year two by Shakespeare, one by Sondheim. STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER The lobby of the Angus Bowmer Theatre is warm, welcoming. WHAT'S AN ACTOR TO DO? It's a sweltering day on stage, he's loaded down with an elaborate costume.  The temperature is climbing.  He's sweating. It's still act one and the temperature is climbing. But wait.  The actor has a brief moment off stage and gets relief from tiny ice packs dropped into his garb. Thanks to clever costumers and seamstresses, the show goes on.  The actor is much cooler. This is only one of the little known facts revealed by actor Jeffrey King, who took a couple dozen theater lovers backstage for a show as enjoyable as a regular production. WE WERE  privileged to gain insight into the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's behind-the-scene workings. Actor Jeffrey King gives a lively backstage tour. King has acted with the OSF company for 15 seasons, with an impressive range of roles in works --  from "A Streetcar Named Desire" to "Hamlet." He also derives pleasure from his role offstage as one of the able backstage tour directors, answering questions about the festival, which presents Greek tragedy, new work and everything in between. He is a master of explaining the curious and little known facts about the festival, considered the oldest and largest professional regional repertory theater company in the country. Established in 1935, OSF has garnered many honors and remains the oldest existing full-scale Elizabethan stage in the Western Hemisphere. KING DESCRIBED  the yeomen's effort of mounting nearly 800 performances a season, operating on a budget of $33 million and reaching an audience of more than 400,000 in three very different theaters. For me, a return to the OSF's Ashland, Oregon, base, is going home. I've logged decades of seasons with this Tony winning company of 600 theater professionals and an impressive 700 volunteers. An ambitious student program is an Oregon Shakespeare Festival rule. KING TOOK  us to all three of the theaters which make up the festival venues:  the 600-seat Bowmer, the 1,190-seat Elizabethan and the 280-seat Thomas whose seating can be arranged in a variety of formats to accommodate up  to 360. We learned: * That understudies have understudies.  When an understudy takes over, the domino theory reigns -- someone steps in for the understudy.  That's all smoothly arranged, and happened the night we sas "The Comedy of Errors." Entertaining and illuminating bits were gleaned by an enthusiastic group on an OSF backstage tour. * That the OSF has a "describer" so that the blind can "see" the play.  Just as the OSF offers audio enhancement for hard of hearing play lovers, the describer helps the blind, explaining the action from a booth. * THAT THE Bowmer's green room is shared by two sets of actors -- one from the Bowmer production upstairs and the other from the nearby Elizabethan Theatre.  Each production has its own monitor.  One season, the actors from the period piece, "Henry IV," Part I, chatted between scenes with the actors from "She Loves Me." * That there is a point in every June when all 11 shows on the annual playbill are either being rehearsed or performed. * That most of the actors participate in at least two plays with three to five performances a week, usually a major role in one production and a supporting role in another. The Allen Elizabethan Theater as viewed from lovely Lithia Park in Ashland. * We also learned the reason for the happy presence of many young people at all the performances we saw:  the OSF's school visit program sends actors to more than 100 schools, presenting performances and workshops in Shakespeare and modern literature to more than 70,000 students in California, Kansas,  Oregon and Washington. Its outreach program and courting of students is one of the most successful and ambitious programs in the U.S. There's much backstage activity aboard a cruise ship, too! COMING UP:  From backstage at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival to backstage shipboard, behind the giant kitchen on Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas.  Cruising is dear to the hearts of Cookie and Keller and they learned a few shipshape tricks from the chefs.  Remember to explore, learn and live.  Let us know what you'd like us to write about in our Wednesdays and weekends posts. Tell your friends about www.whereiscookie.com

San Francisco's inventive Personality Hotels offers a stylish flash drive "bracelet" of images and information, including this.  Your welcome to Hotel Diva begins with a greeting at the front door! STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER Delightfully daring, centrally located, artful, elegant, eye-catching -- and dog friendly. It's San Francisco's Hotel Diva. What a find for people who like the ambiance of a European-style boutique hotel.  Add to its merits character, convenience and the ability to check in with your doggies. It's an irresistible package! We were attracted to Diva by travel-writing friends, who praised it for its blend of trendy and traditional, fun-loving The Diva attracts a mix of well traveled, fun-loving, return clients. and formal, yet with a sense of tease and playfulness. The Diva staff likes what it's doing and it shows at every turn! That's insightful management. The fun begins at the entryway, where performers as varied as Chita Rivera, Leontine Price and Joan Rivers have written love notes, thank-yous and left their hand prints in the cement. The Diva's hand prints out front boast celebrity kudos. The place is dog and  diva friendly! But fellas are also welcome, and enjoy the hotel's frisky decor.  Keller immediately began photographing the fetching window shades -- they feature sexy women's legs -- and we enjoyed the black and white window accents, headboard and vanity, all evoking the feeling of a tuxedo affair.  We also partook of Perrier and sake offered in the lobby, made use of the free wi-fi in room, and appreciated the helpful concierge, receptionists and check-in staff who couldn't do enough for us and fussed over our Yorkies, Nick and Nora.  They reconfirmed our Hornblower cruise, giving us personalized maps and walking directions to the pier. The staff also cheerily lined up dinner reservations and play tickets across the street. The Dashiell Hammett suite awaits in Hotel Union Square. For theater lovers both the Geary and American Conservatory Theater are steps away. We saw an energetic world premier, "Stuck Elevator," then took a romantic stroll for a nightclub near Union Square. So many choices -- bars and nightclubs and dozens of restaurants from Thai to Japanese, upscale Mexican and Continental.  For nearby food in a hurry, there's a fine deli with excellent corned beef, Middle East take-out and pizza by the slice.There's a Starbucks next door for morning java and pastry.  The Diva, though, is worth a stay on its own, apart from location and the abundance of offerings just  steps from the door.  We were immediately welcomed; the spirit continued to a chance meeting with the boss.   The stately Steinhart is a Personality hotel. The charming brainchild of Personality Hotels is its president and CEO Yvonne Lembi-Detert, whom we met in the lobby one afternoon.  She's a lively, smart, hands-on hotelier, daughter of a a hotel owner.  The acorn apparently fell close to the tree. When Yvonne was just 22, she expressed interest in her dad's make-over plans for a hotel he'd just purchased.   Her curiosity, questions  and comments won his approval to delve into his hotel design project.  She threw herself into the "redo" and Hotel Union Square reopened in 1982, 31 years ago as San Francisco's first boutique hotel. (There are dozens now; hers was first.) Yvonne's sense of style and innovation are apparent in all her  properties.  Besides Diva, Hotel Union Square, the original "Personality" place, has a film noir, romantic feeling with a speakeasy flair.  Brick walls, Egyptian style mosaics and richly colored drapes and spreads give a textured appeal to the place. One of the suites is named for famed novelist Dashiell Hammett, who loved and wrote about San Francisco. Kensington Park Hotel, housed in a 1925 Gothic-style building, celebrates the Queen Anne period in a decor Personality Hotel's artistic and savvy CEO, mother of two, puts definite personality into this Diva kid-friendly suite. of marble floors, intricately painted ceilings, rich mahogany and other period graces.  It, too, overlooks Union Square, while Diva is a block away from the delightful central landmark. The Steinhart, like its three sister hotels, has its own sense of drama and comfort.   Designed for longer stays, it boasts studio and one-bedroom apartments.  Its touches include beautiful patios, right out of a Tuscany postcard, flocked wallpaper and a bird cage elevator. Personality Hotels also owns the lovely seaside retreat Mariposa Inn and Suites in Monterey, if you fancy a unique get-away a couple hours south! Yvonne's design degree and European sensibilities, honed no doubt from a lifetime of travel, shine through in her creations.  She also picks top architects and designers, who share her sense of flair, fun and daring. Nick and Nora await their owners, who are fetching the champagne for a toast to San Francisco! And the native San Franciscan personally visits one or more of the properties each day! "Guests who stay at our hotels know they're going to get not just a personalized look and feel, but a personalized experience," says Yvonne. It's true. We'll be back. www.personalityhotels.com COMING NEXT:  We wrap up our San Francisco tribute with a look at some of the city's famous sights and eye-catching attractions, including the Golden Gate Bridge, vintage houses and a heart painted by singer Tony Bennett. Remember to explore, learn and live! And read our posts Wednesdays and Saturdays at: whereiscookie.com