# Can you smoke on stage at your theater?



## gafftaper (Apr 4, 2011)

Another thread about herbal cigarettes got me wondering what the status of smoking on stage is in this country. In the state of Washington, it is illegal to smoke within 20' of the entrance to any public space. Which means just about everyone has completely given up on smoking on stage, even smoking herbals is in a real gray area. Audiences are used to not smelling cigarette smoke and so they complain if there is real smoke on stage. I hear some have switched to those electronic cigarettes. At my college we have the actor hold up a cigarette and pretend to light it but not actually do it. There are a few big theaters downtown who still allow smoking on stage, they say they have their lawyers ready to sue on freedom of speech grounds if anyone tries to shut them down. For now they are being left alone, probably because no one is complaining yet.

So what are the rules about smoking on stage in your area?


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## DuckJordan (Apr 4, 2011)

drummerboi316 said:


> My college's theatre (actually the one that had problems with herbals catching of fire, lol), herbals are good to go, no tobacco however.
> 
> At my parent's theatre, MunOpCo (municipal opera company of allentown, pa) they are housed in the Scottish Rite Cathedral and all of the house guys smoke tobacco everywhere, including my step dad and my mom who are artistic director and president, respectively, of MunOpCo. So at this particular house, it always smells like tobacco.


 

Since its state law that there is no smoking at all in any public space we cannot smoke even herbals. Although For the small amount of times we need a lit cigarette on stage we just use the water vapors (no nicotine versions). It allows us to still have the look of smoke without the harmful side affects some people have issues with, Plus they come in multiple flavors to let the actors feel more comfortable.


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## kicknargel (Apr 4, 2011)

Colorado smoking laws prohibit any smoking on stage. The Curious Theatre Company has been pushing for an exemption on first amendment grounds. They got as far as the state supreme court, which ruled (ridiculously, in my option) that smoking on stage could not be considered speech, and that not smoking or fake smoking could not harm the artistic integrity of the piece. They appealed to the Supreme Court, but they did not take the case.

Interestingly, I saw a show there last night, and they were smoking herbals on stage. Looks like they're itching for a fight.


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## jglodeklights (Apr 4, 2011)

At my theater, Plays and Players, it depends on the production company on our main stage, the director, etc. Typically, in our third floor space, due to the size, it is not allowed.

Interestingly enough, though, is that our third floor also houses our bar (and yes, it is a full service bar with a real license to be so) that allows smoking as it is considered a private club. You need to pay $25 a year or join us in full membership to be a member of our social club, but you get to smoke at our bar.


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## Footer (Apr 5, 2011)

In NYS you can smoke herbals onstage without issue. There are provisions in place that you can get a waver to do real cigs. The other issue with it is you then have an open flame onstage which is a whole other can of worms in this state.


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## shiben (Apr 5, 2011)

E-cigs for the win. Convincing enough, some real smoke look, and no need for actual smoking.


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## CrazyTechie (Apr 5, 2011)

I'm going with we can have tobacco on our stage because during the rehearsals for Equus, the original idea was to use herbal cigarettes but one of the actors turned out to be allergic to the herbals so they had to switch to real ones.


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## mstaylor (Apr 5, 2011)

We just did a professional production of Grease. They use herbals in the show, so a phone call to the fire marshall to see what he had. He said as long as we kept a vessel of water to put it out he was fine. He looked at several code sections and he said it was OK. My FM is tough so if he allows it then there must be no national code against it. Local or state codes are another issue.


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## cpf (Apr 5, 2011)

I think it's a matter if "no one asks questions; no one gets hurt" where I am. It's illegal to smoke in indoor public places, but everybody seems to assume that if it's not "real" smoking then it's ok.


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## Tex (Apr 5, 2011)

I find it humorous that there are laws that prohibit smoking on stage, but any bozo can run down to the local big box, buy the cheapest hardware they have and fly people all over the stage without a peep from government.


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## JBrennan (Apr 5, 2011)

I work at a community college about an hour north of Chicago. We ran into this problem here and by ran into, I mean were the only ones who cared enough to look into the law during a recent production of _ The Glass Menagerie_ where the director wanted Tom to smoke. 

As for the Illinois state law, There is no smoking of any kind allowed inside a public building. The law states, "Smoke" or "smoking" means the carrying, smoking, burning, inhaling, or exhaling of any kind of lighted pipe, cigar,cigarette, hookah, weed, herbs, or any other lighted smoking equipment." This includes hookahs, pipes, cigars, cigarillos, cloves, etc. etc. It also specifically defines "indoor theaters" as public spaces. So nuts to them!

We bought two of the electronic cigarettes with some flavor I can't remember but with cartridges that do not have nicotine or a tobacco flavor. They look real enough to me and you still get that puff of smoke out of the actor's mouth which is nice. No one has complained so far but I imagine it will happen one of these days. I do not consider these "lighted" smoking equipment as they are battery powered.

I took the time to write to the Illinois Arts Council after some research online and asked what they were doing to gain an exception for theaters in Illinois. I got a very quick response from the director saying that he had forwarded my E-mail on to another group representing the LOTR theaters in Chicago and that they were working on the issue with the state legislature. I've yet to hear anything else but I appreciated the reply none the less.

I know this was an issue for _Jersey Boys_ when it toured in the city but I don't know how it was resolved. My recollection is that one night was canceled and after they failed to get a waiver they cut it from the show. Don't quote me on that however.

As for my personal take on this overly long reply to a simple question, I say smoke em if you got them and take on the lawsuit/fine if it ever comes. I understand not using actual tobacco products on stage, but it is completely ridiculous not to take the performing arts into consideration when drafting laws like this. To ban smoking from a play would be to change the nature of what the author intended in his or her script.


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## chausman (Apr 8, 2011)

gafftaper said:


> So what are the rules about smoking on stage in your area?


 
Same as your area! 

As far as shows that I have done, they are children's shows (8-18) and when you sign up to be part of that group you actually sign something saying

> Be pure in my relationships, choices and actions; I will avoid the use of drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and overt physical contact with others.


 So... smoking is out. I'll have to check later about the high school.


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## josh88 (Apr 8, 2011)

about a year ago before I graduated from a state school in ohio we had an interesting experience with this. Director wanted the actor to smoke so we called in the fire marshal to talk about it. Even with putting forward the idea of "fireproofing" the couch, a term which he had problems with, despite all involved knowing that even with flame retardants nothing is "fireproof". ultimately he wouldn't even allow an empty lighter (zippo) on stage unless the flint had been removed. 

presented with the options the director decided he really just wanted the flicking zippo sound in the long run. twas an interesting experience that show


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## erosing (Apr 8, 2011)

Herbals can be used, as long as there are dispensaries containing water to extinguish, and _theoretically_ a dedicated person standing next to a fire extinguisher.

Oh and I would second E-cigs, except they don't fit all the time periods (if audience is close enough), they're expensive (for a one time use), and someone always thinks they are the real deal and starts coughing up a storm even though they are 50' away. But in general I'd greatly prefer them to the place smelling like an ashtray for the next 3 weeks.


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## erichart (Apr 11, 2011)

Here in New York City, we use herbal cigarettes and herbal cigars. Those do require an open flame permit, so for lower-budget shows, we may opt for an e-cigarette (the permit is more expensive than a new e-cigarette). The "smoke" they produce looks great, though they get a bit fake-looking when the audience is close enough. There's also the problem of when you have a chain-smoking character; the e-cigarettes don't burn down in size, and you can't mash them out into an ash tray.


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## Dionysus (Apr 11, 2011)

Here in Ontario is it illegal to smoke in any public building or workplace (even in a work vehicle), along with about 10' from any open window or doorway. Certainly counts out smoking on stage.
I find that some people generally avoid plays that require smoking on stage, or use a prop cigarette (often one that does not get lit at all. Or one that poofs something out). I've not seen herbals used in recent memory.

All for the better I think as a real live, lit cigarette on stage is not really necessary in my eyes. We have this thing called the suspension of disbelief, why not exercise it?


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## Cashwalker (Apr 13, 2011)

Don't give fake cigarettes to actors who smoke for real.... Had one show where for one scene, every character on stage had to be "inhaling tobacco deeply". We bought a carton of fake cigarettes, the kind with a little powder inside for the actor to blow out through... one actor couldn't get the OUT part right, and kept sucking in the powder....


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## gafftaper (Apr 13, 2011)

chausman said:


> Be pure in my relationships, choices and actions; I will avoid the use of drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and overt physical contact with others.


Note to Derek, Footer, and Van, never apply for work in Spokane, Washington.


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## chausman (Apr 13, 2011)

gafftaper said:


> chausman said:
> 
> 
> > Be pure in my relationships, choices, and actions; I will avoid the use of drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and overt physical contact with others.
> ...


 
We don't have to worry about them, since no matter how immature they may be, they aren't ages 8-18, so they can't be part of CYT (where the who Pure in my... comes from)


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## Goph704 (Apr 13, 2011)

Usually E- Cigarettes are preferred. However However it's not really the smoke that's the problem, it's the Lighter, since we're on a university campus , and use of a lighter, Cigarette, or even smoke or haze requires an open flame permit, which is obtained through the on campus police dept.


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## Chris Chapman (Apr 14, 2011)

Is E-Cig availability better in the US now? I researched it for a show two years ago, and was having issues finding anyone domestically who was selling them. The price point was around $200 then too. How expensive and readily available are they now?


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## Dionysus (Apr 14, 2011)

Goph704 said:


> Usually E- Cigarettes are preferred. However However it's not really the smoke that's the problem, it's the Lighter, since we're on a university campus , and use of a lighter, Cigarette, or even smoke or haze requires an open flame permit, which is obtained through the on campus police dept.


 
Easy to solve the lighter problem. Take apart a lighter, hook up a switch to the button, LED, battery, bob's your uncle. Seen it done quite a few times.


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## MarshallPope (Apr 15, 2011)

For our current show, we are using a few e-cigs. We seriously considered using herbals, but decided against them at the last minute. (I believe it was the final dress) We are, however, using a real lighter onstage, so there aren't any issues with that here, that I know of at least.


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## rjn0 (Apr 30, 2011)

drummerboi316 said:


> My college's theatre (actually the one that had problems with herbals catching of fire, lol), herbals are good to go, no tobacco however.
> 
> At my parent's theatre, ________ all of the house guys smoke tobacco everywhere, including my step dad and my mom who are artistic director and president, respectively, of @#$%. So at this particular house, it always smells like tobacco.


 
Nick, 

Does your Mom know you just threw her under the bus?


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## drummerboi316 (Apr 30, 2011)

why is that rob? is there something I said that I shouldn't have? because I'm not trying to get anyone in trouble....


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## cpf (May 1, 2011)

Snipped incriminating details, and yes, I did make the broad assumption that smoking was banned in public venues where you were.


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## Tex (May 1, 2011)

cpf said:


> The issue is that, thanks to all the information you volunteered, anyone with 30 seconds and Google could trigger a lot of people getting visits from the management, possibly even losing their jobs. Something to think about next time.


I know it's difficult to believe, but there are places left in the United States where it is perfectly legal to smoke indoors and nobody gets in trouble for doing it.
BTW, His mother IS "the management"...


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## drummerboi316 (May 1, 2011)

cpf said:


> The issue is that, thanks to all the information you volunteered, anyone with 30 seconds and Google could trigger a lot of people getting visits from the management, possibly even losing their jobs. Something to think about next time.



something to think about next time...... oops


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## chausman (May 1, 2011)

drummerboi316 said:


> something to think about next time...... oops


 
Don't forget you can remove that from your post. And if Tex and cpf are nice enough to edit out of their quotes, whatever you said will go away. 

OR, if you go to [edit post], [go advanced] at the top, it will allow you to delete that post all together.


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## JBrennan (May 2, 2011)

Chris Chapman said:


> Is E-Cig availability better in the US now? I researched it for a show two years ago, and was having issues finding anyone domestically who was selling them. The price point was around $200 then too. How expensive and readily available are they now?


 

We use an older version of this package. We also bought an extra cig-battery and atomizer so we would have two. Which was a good choice since we just had one walk away. I also ordered over the phone to make sure we got the nicotine free cartridges. Total cost was under $100.


PCC Starter Kit


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## Shawncfer (May 2, 2011)

Here we just got done doing a production of Andrew Lippa's 'Wild Party', and in the play they smoke several times on stage. We Just called up a fire marshall, he did a quick inspection and approved up. We just have to have a person on both sides of the stage with fire extinguishers on standby!


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## drummerboi316 (May 4, 2011)

hey guys, i just wanted to thank chausman, cpf, Tex, and rjn0 for editing your posts. I made a dumb mistake and I really appreciate you guys helping me out so I don't get anyone in trouble that doesn't deserve it. You know how it is, sometimes you don't know if there's shakehand agreements to not talk about things that might break the rules. This has taught me a valuable lesson though where if you are not 100% sure that you can say something to the public, don't even mention it. But again, thanks.

EDIT: if i knew how to tag you guys, I would.  sorry


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