WHAT'S DOING IN; ASHLAND, ORE. (May 4, 2003)
New York Times—When the Oregon Shakespearean Festival in Ashland first dangled fine drama before an audience in 1935, boxing matches were staged, just in case Shakespeare couldn't draw a crowd. Now the Shakespeare festival in Ashland, about 300 miles south of Portland, is the one of the largest in the country, attracting more than 100,000 people a year.
By SUSAN G. HAUSER (NYT)

The slogan in days of yore was, ''Stay four days, see four plays.'' These days, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival still puts on four Shakespeare plays, but also seven others.

And the festival runs much of the year, from the end of February to early November, with the highlight being the opening of the 1,200-seat outdoor theater on June 20. It joins the festival's two indoor theaters, the 600-seat Angus Bowmer and the 270-seat New Theater, which are already in full swing.

This year, the festival presents the premieres of four productions, the two-play cycle of ''Continental Divide,'' by David Edgar, an examination of American politics; ''Lorca in a Green Dress,'' a look at the murder of the Spanish playwright Federico García Lorca, by this year's Pulitzer-winning dramatist, Nilo Cruz, and a new translation of Henrik Ibsen's ''Hedda Gabler'' by Jerry Turner.

Before Shakespeare reinvented Ashland, this southern Oregon town of 20,000 was known for its naturally carbonated water, dubbed Lithia Water because it contains lithium. Thought to be salubrious for bathing and drinking, is still piped into drinking fountains in Lithia Park and the Plaza, Ashland's town square.

Ashland has much more to offer visitors than Lithia Water (its bad-egg taste pronounced ''yucky'' by many a daring drinker). There are plenty of excellent restaurants, and shops, bookstores and galleries line Main Street, the Plaza and the recently renovated Historic Railroad District. Nearby are abundant opportunities for outdoor recreation, like rafting on the Rogue River about 20 miles to the northwest.

Events
Indoors, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is presenting ''Continental Divide,'' ''Hedda Gabler'' and Noël Coward's ''Present Laughter'' as well as Shakespeare's ''Romeo and Juliet,'' and ''Antony and Cleopatra.'' The outdoor Elizabethan Stage opens June 20 (previews begin June 10) with ''Richard II.'' Tickets are $21.75 to $47.25 through June 8, $29 to $63 in summer, with a 25 percent discount for ages 6 to 17 (mainly indoors). To order tickets, call (541) 482-4331 or online at www.osfashland.org.

The opening of the Elizabethan Stage and the beginning of summer are traditionally marked by the Feast of Will, a buffet-style chicken barbeque dinner with Elizabethan music in Lithia Park. This year it is on June 20, before the evening's play. Tickets are $12 and are available through the festival box office.

For entertainment that's less high brow, the Oregon Cabaret Theater, at First and Hargadine Streets, (541) 488-2902, www.oregoncabaret.com, is an enjoyable option. Since 1986, it has staged musical comedies in a 1911 Baptist church converted to a 140-seat theater. ''The Bachelors,'' a musical comedy by Fred Alley and James Kaplan about two 30-something men whose lives are changed by a pizza-delivery girl, runs through June 2; ''Pageant,'' a musical in which beauty contestants played by male actors are judged by the audience, runs June 11 to Sept. 1. Performances are daily except Tuesday. Tickets for the plays only are $15 to $25; dinner, about $50 for two with wine, is optional.

A popular event is the First Friday Art Walk, on the first Friday of every month from 5 to 8 p.m. Ashland's more than two dozen art galleries stay open late, offering free food and music. Maps are available at the Chamber of Commerce, 110 East Main Street and a booth on the Plaza, and at participating galleries. Information: Ashland Gallery Association, (541) 488-8430 and www.atasteofashland.com.

The Britt Festival, June 6 to Sept. 7 in Jacksonville, 20 miles north of Ashland, features many well-known pop, jazz and classical artists, including Dave Brubeck, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and the Pacifica String Quartet. Tickets, $4 to $84, from (800) 882-7488 and www.brittfest.org.

Sightseeing
On a sunny day, nothing is more pleasant than strolling through the 93-acre Lithia Park. Scenic Ashland Creek runs through it, with a parallel jogging path. There are two duck ponds, Japanese and rose gardens, a bandshell, a picnic area, a playground, tennis courts and, of course, a Lithia Water drinking fountain. For information on the town, see www.ashlandchamber.com.

On weekends from May through October, the Lithia Artisans Market sets up on Calle Guanajuato, a pedestrian walkway next to Ashland Creek behind the Plaza. On Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., you'll find handmade dolls, birdhouses and candles and furniture made from salvaged materials. Information: Rob Joseph, (541) 488-3118.

The Growers and Crafters Market offers fruits, vegetables and arts and crafts at the Armory, 2140 East Main Street, every Tuesday 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m; (541) 472-9409.

Three wineries are just a few miles from downtown, and visitors are welcome for tastings. Weisinger's of Ashland is at 3150 Siskiyou Boulevard, (541) 488-5989, www.weisingers.com, and is open daily 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ashland Vineyards and Winery, specializing in merlot and cabernet sauvignon, is at 2775 East Main Street, (541) 488-0088, www.winenet.com; open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday. Paschal Winery, six miles from Ashland in Talent, (800) 446-6050, www.paschalwinery.com, is known for its pinot gris; open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

You can stock up on Shakespeare at Tudor Guild Gift Shop, 15 South Pioneer Street, (541) 482-0940. This large, nonprofit shop helps support the festival with sales of books, mugs, T-shirts, games, puppets, jewelry —memorabilia for Shakespeare lovers of any age.

In the restored Historic Railroad District, the A Street Marketplace, Oak and A Streets, (541) 488-3433, is an assortment of boutiques, galleries, salons and restaurants in a former factory. Among them are Tibet Treasures, with clothing, jewelry and housewares from Tibet, and Gathering Glass Studio, complete with a working kiln.

Where to Stay
The Plaza Inn and Suites, 98 Central Avenue, (888) 488-0358, fax (541) 488-8906, www.plazainnashland.com, is a welcome new addition to Ashland, which is long on B&B's and motels, short on hotels. Open since last July, this 91-room boutique hotel has large, comfortable rooms, 38 overlooking Ashland Creek. Custom comforters have lines from Shakespeare's sonnets. Breakfast and bedtime snacks are included and there is an exercise room. The excellent Blue Giraffe Day Spa Salon is adjacent to the hotel. Rates go up May 15 to $139 to $249, from $69 to $119.

A charmingly restored, red-brick 1900 building at 243 Fourth Street in the Historic Railroad District contains the Peerless Hotel, (800) 460-8758, fax (541) 488-5508, www.peerlesshotel.com. Its six rooms, all with private bath, have antique Victorian furnishings and hand-painted ceilings and walls. Full breakfast is included in the rates: $99 to $189 before June, $130 to $220 in summer.

Budget: The Palm, at 1065 Siskiyou Boulevard, (877) 482-2635, www.palmcottages.com, has 13 renovated cottages (six with kitchens) in a tidy 1950's motor inn. There are period furnishings in good condition, including delightfully atrocious lamps. An ample lawn includes flower gardens and a swimming pool. Rates are $49 to $95 before June, then $69 to $125.

One flight up in a historic 1910 downtown building is the Columbia Hotel, 262 1/2 East Main Street, (800) 718-2530, www.columbiahotel.com. Four of 24 individually decorated rooms with comfortable, well-cared-for antique furnishings have private baths and clawfoot tubs. Rooms with bath are $79 weeknights, $89 weekends before June, and $110 in summer.

Luxury: A nine-story, landmark yellow building in the heart of town— the tallest in Ashland—was originally the Lithia Hotel, then the Mark Antony, and is now the Ashland Springs. The hotel, at 212 East Main Street, (541) 488-1700, fax (541) 488-1701, www.ashlandspringshotel.com, reopened in 2000 after a two-year renovation. The lobby, with glass cases brimming with naturalists' collections, is meant to reflect the interests of a typical pedagogue lecturing at Ashland's old Chautauqua building (where the Elizabethan Stage stands) in the early 1900's. The 70 elegant European-style rooms are decorated with naturalists' drawings and pressed leaves. A sumptuous Sunday afternoon tea is held on the mezzanine for $23. There is a restaurant, Bulls-Eye Bistro, and the Ashland Springs Spa is adjacent to the hotel. Rates are $99 to $164 before June, $109 to $209 in summer.

Where to Eat
Since 1973, Chateaulin, 50 East Main Street, (541) 482-2264, has been attracting Francophiles with appetizers like millefeuille au chevre (puff pastry with goat cheese and caramelized onion) and dishes like magrets de canard au port, a pan-roasted duck served with a port and balsamic demiglaze. The intimate, brick and dark wood restaurant is open for dinner Tuesday to Sunday, nightly after June 10. Dinner for two with wine, about $100.

Contemporary French Northwest cuisine is translated at Amuse, 15 North First Street, (541) 488-9000, by such entrees as crispy fluke with oyster mushrooms, braised leeks and lemon-thyme broth, and wood-grilled New York steak with pommes frites and baby spinach. The décor is modern minimalist in a small storefront, also with patio dining. Dinner Tuesday to Sunday. Dinner for two with wine, $100.

Next to the historic hotel of the same name, the Peerless, 265 Fourth Street, (541) 488-6067, presents a contemporary menu in a contemporary setting that seats 60, and 30 more in a courtyard. The menu includes lavender-honey-lacquered Tasmanian steelhead, riesling-braised Oregon leg and roasted saddle of rabbit, and lamb loin encrusted in oven-dried tomatoes. Dinner Tuesday to Saturday. Dinner for two with wine, $80.

''Texas Mediterranean'' is the featured cuisine at Beasy's on the Creek, 51 Water Street, (541) 488-5009. The warm, semicircular dining room, with booths facing a fireplace, has large windows overlooking Ashland Creek and the hills to the north. Steak and seafood, like char-grilled Salmon Inca Inca (with a creamy garlic, jalapeño and lime sauce), and Cadillac mixed grill (sirloin, chicken and shrimp), dominate the eclectic menu. Dinner daily; for two with wine, $60.

Cucina Biazzi, 568 East Main, (541) 488-3739, serves Tuscan food in a small house with a terra cotta patio shaded by wisteria and grapevines. A four-course fixed-price meal, including antipasti, pasta, an entree and salad, costs $25 to $30 a person. There are three-course and à la carte menus, too, with entrees $18.50 to $23.50 and pasta $10 to $15. Dessert and wine ($3 to $7 a glass) are extra. Open for dinner daily.

For a more casual meal, the Standing Stone Brewing Company, 101 Oak Street, (541) 482-2448, is open every day for lunch and dinner, serving pizza ($8.75 to $10.25), burgers ($5.50), soups, salads and desserts, including marionberry cobbler à la mode ($4.25). The décor in the former auto service garage is simple and industrial. Live music some evenings and Sunday afternoon. Dinner for two, with beer, $30.

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