San Francisco is well known for many of its cultural attractions. Even some of the streets and neighborhoods in this city are famous in their own right. It is only fitting that it is also one of the major theatre towns in the country and it draws some of the top theatre professionals from across the world. In addition to the number of major theatres that host Broadway touring productions there are a great deal of others that produce original works as well as some of the greats from the popular canon. Whatever you happen to be looking for, you will be able to find some great theatre during your stay in a hotel San Francisco . In addition to that which is available in the city, the East Bay has numerous other companies that produce quality shows every year.

Some of the current and upcoming Broadway productions that are enjoying runs in San Francisco include Wicked, which is being performed at the Orpheum, West Side Story which will also be hosted by the Orpheum and The Color Purple which will run for four days in November at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. These are just a few of the popular tours that will be coming through or are in town or across the Bay.

In addition, the Berkeley Repertory Theatre is currently presenting the world premiere of Girlfriend with music and lyrics by Mathew Sweet and book by Todd Almond. This show was directed by Les Waters. Upcoming on the theatre’s schedule is in the wake, by Lisa Kron and is directed by Leigh Silverman. Other Bay Area productions include Round and Round the Garden at the American Conservatory Theatre on Geary Street in San Francisco. The play was written by Alan Ayckbourn and this production was directed by John Rando.

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New York is famous for a lot of things, but it’s virtually impossible to set foot in any neighborhood in the city without doing a little bit of shopping. Even window shopping counts, and that might be one of the most fulfilling activities here, because the windows are not simply displays, but works of art in their own rite. It’s one of the key fashion cities in the world, and with the trend for vintage sticking around as long as it has, there are plenty of vintage stores for every bargain hunter.

Perhaps bargains aren’t necessarily the first thing on the menu, however, because even places like Cheap Jack’s has plenty of vintage items that come with a contemporary price tag. But if you are looking for stylish clothes that are particular to any era, this is one of the best in the city. The clothes are arranged by decade, so if the mid-60s look is getting to be too 2009 for you, then you might enjoy entering into the 1930s. The results will be stunning.

Resurrection is a higher-end vintage store, started by designers that have a very keen eye for elegance. There are also plenty of touches of whimsy here, and the feel of the place has nothing vintage about it, unless you’re looking for a high-class boutique from days gone by. The owners now live in Los Angeles, with new vintage stores there as well, as the trends become more bi-coastal as the world gets smaller.

For the window shopper, however, it’s hard to imagine a more perfect day than waking up in a gorgeous luxury hotel and then heading out to see what’s on at Screaming Mimi’s . Here, there is a gorgeous aesthetic in the layout and the selection inside the store, and the windows are as close to splendid as a store window can get. Seasonal and small, the window always evokes a strong reaction, where touches of the pastoral enter into tasteful goth, and it’s hard not to imagine yourself in the scene.

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When I was in Los Angeles for the very first time, I was already 25 years old, and the only reason I never set foot there is because it hadn’t occurred to me that I might be missing something. The lure of beautiful hotels was something that my rich and pretty friends would chase after, but I couldn’t think about these things. I was a dedicated installation artist, and the world was my canvas, and film of any kind was a spit in the face of all that was good in the world. Installation was everything, it was my definition of the world, and my definition was everything. I didn’t know that was a Hollywood sentiment until it was too late to be pure.

For a long time, though, that’s how I saw it. It was something I’d decided before I could really think it through, and I said it enough so that I felt tied to it. Even though I was working in some circles where friends were making movies, I would always condescend to them and tolerate their company. They might think film wasn’t dead, I would think, and someday they’ll understand. Eventually, drawn by the idea of making something I could save for when I turned forty, and didn’t want to do this anymore, I went to Hollywood to give in. Of course, the giving was one-sided, they didn’t really care about the gift.

But I did get to see some people I’d always thought about. John Cusack was interesting enough, and could probably be convinced to be in one of my installations, or might donate money from his charity. Or there was also Miranda July , whose films crossed over from the gallery/performance art realm into indie cinema. These were people I would hang out with in L.A., I thought, and for me, seeing someone at a video store or in a car driving by counts as hanging out. Being able to stretch your definitions to fit your reality is very important in this town.

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