The 18th annual "British Theatre Backstage With Barbara Isenberg," which features seven shows, leaves Los Angeles for London on Dec. 27 and returns Jan. 6. The tour offers backstage visits and meetings with British theater artists and critics.
It includes visits to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, the newly renovated British Museum, the Hermitage exhibition at Somerset House and the Imperial War Museum. Besides a theater study session at the Theatre Museum, tour-goers will meet with a London commentator on English current events and take a walking tour of the ancient Inns of Court. A Sunday excursion starts with a morning concert at Wigmore Hall, followed by lunch in 17th century Holland House plus a tour of historic Leighton House Art Gallery. Arts writer and lecturer Barbara Isenberg will lead the tour.
Cost: $5,281 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, room at the Westbury Hotel in Mayfair, full English breakfast daily, all performances and museums, welcome dinner, celebrity tea, New Year's Eve celebration, all excursions and group airport transfers.
Contact: Susan Holden, Gilner International Travels, 437 S. Robertson Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90211; telephone (310) 273-6161.
Ireland: Theater
The "Dublin International Theatre Festival Tour," Oct. 2 to 10, includes a weekend excursion to the lakes, seacoasts and castles of southern Ireland. Arts journalist Laura Hitchcock and former studio executive Mike Hoffer are hosts.
The tour includes three plays, a welcome reception with a festival guest, a farewell dinner and tours of St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Guinness Brewery, Dublin Castle and Trinity College. The weekend excursion to the south visits Waterford and its glass factory; the Killarney lake country; the seascapes of the Dingle Peninsula; and an overnight stay at historic Bunratty Castle.
Cost: $1,398 per person, double occupancy, including hotel, full Irish breakfast each day, tickets to plays, a city tour, motor coach transportation and a farewell dinner. Air fare is not included.
Contact: Protravel International's Thea Tours; tel. (323) 856-3085.
Central Asia: History
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is offering a comprehensive history tour of central Asia. It will cut across valleys, deserts and mountains of former Soviet Union countries, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgzystan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
