A Comeback for Shakespeare’s Other Theater

A unique attempt to re-create London’s long-ago Blackfriars theater, where the works of William Shakespeare and other playwrights played in Elizabethan times, is to open Friday in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. (At the Travel section’s press time Tuesday, after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., the opening was still on schedule.)

Called the Blackfriars Playhouse, the wooden structure in Staunton, about 35 miles northwest of Charlottesville, will be the first permanent home for Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, a 13-year-old traveling company that presents the Bard’s plays in simple settings and modern dress.

The original Blackfriars, which opened in the 1590s and later burned down, was the winter home for Shakespeare’s later plays.

Unlike the open-air Globe Theater, another Shakespeare venue, which was re-created in London in 1996, the Blackfriars was an enclosed building with a roof, and it catered to wealthier patrons. The raised-platform stage was at the end of a long, rectangular hall, and spectators sat on benches on the main level and in galleries.

Like the original, the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton will be illuminated by candles; players will be able to see the audience because all are illuminated with the same light source. There are some notable differences in the modern version: It seats 300 (plus up to 50 standees in the galleries) rather than an estimated 500 in the original, and it was built with nails, although it has wooden pegs too.

The theater will be open year-round. Its fall season opens Sept. 21 with “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and runs through Nov. 18, with four plays in rotation. Tickets are $10 to $26. Telephone (540) 885-5588, Internet https://www.shenandoahshakespeare.com.

Rand McNally Starting Online Travel Club

Rand McNally was planning to launch an online travel service Monday with features similar to those of AAA--with a cyber-twist or two. (Company offices in Skokie, Ill., were closed Tuesday after the terrorist attacks, and officials could not be reached for comment on whether the service would begin as scheduled.)

Although Chris Heivly, president of Rand McNally.com, says he doesn’t view his company’s Road Explorers service as “direct competition” against the 44-million-member AAA, it will offer typical auto club services. These include maps, trip planners, emergency roadside assistance and travel discounts.

A major difference is that members can download PDF files from the Internet site, https://www.randmcnally.com, which contains detailed Rand McNally maps like those “you’re used to getting at gas stations,” Heivly says. By contrast, AAA members must visit club offices for detailed maps.

Since December, AAA has offered an online version of its TripTik service on https://www.aaa.com, which provides custom routing maps; Rand McNally calls its online version Trip Guides and will allow members to tailor them to feature children’s activities or other special interests.

As of last week, more than 25,000 hotels, car rental sites and other travel providers had agreed to offer discounts to Road Explorers members, Heivly said. By comparison, AAA gives discounts at more than 39,500 sites.

Comparing membership costs is more difficult because AAA’s basic fees vary from about $35 to $75 per year, depending on the local club, with extra fees for spouses or others, a spokeswoman said. The services covered by those fees may also vary.

The Road Explorers service will charge $34.95 per year for a basic membership (most of the benefits except roadside service) and $79.95 for a “Premier Plus” membership (roadside service for anyone in the household, up to four calls per year).

Cruise Line Settles Suit on Treatment of Blind

MIAMI--Norwegian Cruise Line has agreed to allow visually impaired passengers to travel without restrictions as part of a settlement of a discrimination suit filed by the U.S. Justice Department.

The cruise line also agreed to pay a total of $42,500 to three passengers and $22,500 to the federal government, according to the Justice Department, which sued in January. It had accused the cruise line of violating the Americans With Disabilities Act after three blind passengers complained that they were treated differently because of their impairments. The company denied the allegations.

One passenger, Stephen Gomes, was left waiting on a Houston pier while the company “considered whether to allow him on the ship,” according to the Justice Department. The two others, a newlywed couple, were asked to travel with a sighted companion in the same cabin while on their honeymoon. The cruise line said Gomes was denied boarding because of expected heavy weather and that the restrictions on the newlyweds were ultimately lifted.

Under the settlement approved last week by a federal judge in Miami, the cruise line agreed that it wouldn’t require any person with a visual impairment to travel with a sighted companion, mandate doctors’ notes that passengers are “fit to travel” or ask blind passengers to sign forms assuming financial liability for shipboard injuries (unless the form is required for all passengers).

-- Bloomberg News

Fire Wrecks Nassau Market, Restaurants

NASSAU, Bahamas--A suspected arson fire swept through Nassau’s tourist area earlier this month, destroying the popular Straw Market and other buildings. A sidewalk peanut vendor was charged with setting the fire.

The blaze on Bay Street, the capital’s harbor-side commercial and tourist strip, began in the Straw Market, named for its goods made of straw and wood. It also destroyed the Tourism Ministry, an office complex and the Colony Place, which housed stores and restaurants, and damaged the 18th century Vendue House, site of the national museum. About 300 guests at the British Colonial Hotel were evacuated. Three policemen and a Bahamas Defense Force member were injured fighting the fire.

-- Associated Press

Traveler’s Notes ...

Palm Springs this month began a monthly event called “First Friday on North Palm Canyon.” More than 30 art, antiques and furnishings stores on North Palm Canyon Drive will stay open until 9 p.m. on the first Friday of each month. There will also be food and live music. The next event is Oct. 5. ... A 1.5-mile walking trail of 21 historic and architectural landmarks has been marked in St. Louis. Visitors follow a painted sidewalk line and can read descriptive plaques at each site. Highlights include the first skyscraper designed by architect Louis Sullivan and Busch Stadium, where Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris’ home-run record. ... British developers plan to build a Beatles-themed hotel in--where else?--Liverpool, England, Newsday reports. The $11.5-million hotel will be next door to a reconstruction of the Cavern Club, where John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr got their start. The hotel is scheduled to open in 2003. Each guest room will be enhanced with Beatles-related murals and decor, the developers said.

--Compiled by Jane Engle