"Light in the Piazza" question

[MimiJudith]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 9:00am

The actors smoke on stage. Could the cigarettes be real?

Posted: 2/15/06 at 9:01am

Could be...but I do know they make fake ones for stage

[SNLMedia]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 9:03am

When I saw the show, I could smell the smoke from the audience, and it definitely smelled authentic. Either they are real cigarettes, or it's artificially-scented smoke.

[IssaMe]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 10:01am

As previously discussed here - not tobacco but marshmellow root artificial smoke.

[MimiJudith]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 10:10am

Thanks for your responses.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 2/16/06 at 12:33am

They're fake, but they smell just as gross.

[timote316]

Posted: 2/16/06 at 12:39am

I believe there is a sign as you walk into the theater saying they are herbal cigarettes. I know I saw a sign somewhere, I'm pretty sure it was at the Beaumont.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 2/16/06 at 12:41am

Yeah, you did.

[GretchaSketh]

Posted: 2/16/06 at 1:27am

They also smoke in the Pajama Game. I've always been curious about this myself. I mean they couldn't use real ones...well they could but that isn't good for them, being singers.

[Urban]

Posted: 2/16/06 at 3:12am

^actually scarily enough, alot of singers do smoke because smoking does offer some short term benefits (like relaxing nodes etc). Yeah, we all know about the long term damage and effects, but don't assume all singers don't smoke becuase of their voice, alot do the exact opposite!

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 2/16/06 at 8:14am

yeah, i saw that sign about the herbal smoke. do they use it so they dont get addicted, or just for the heck of it? i was sitting in the first row, and it smelled pretty bad!

[misto625]

Posted: 2/16/06 at 4:17pm

I didn't see the sign at the theater but I sat in the front row and when I smelled them I knew they were herbal. To me herbal cigarettes smell better than regular cigarettes, but still quite gross. I don't believe you are allowed to smoke real cigarettes on stage but I could be wrong.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/16/06 at 4:22pm

You can still get addicted to herbal cigarettes. It doesn't harm their voices because the ones that are really conscous about it don't inhale, they just take it in their mouth and blow it out.

Whenever you watch someone smoke on stage or in a movie, you can always tell which people actually smoke in real life, and which ones look intolerably ackward doing it.

[jv92]

Posted: 2/16/06 at 4:44pm

Usually, you don't take as long of a puff or you only smoke for 5-10 minutes in the show.
Now, if you were playing Bob Fosse or Walt Disney in an autobigoraphical show, maybe things would be different.

[idinarocksmysocks!510]

Posted: 2/16/06 at 5:05pm

when i saw it i was front row and boy could i smell the smoke. i'm pretty sure they're real.

[Love4Cheno]

Posted: 2/16/06 at 5:10pm

I sat in the front row when i saw it, and Victoria Clark DEFINITELY inhaled.

And as someone previously said, I think a lot of you would be shocked at just how many Broadway performers actually DO smoke.

[BroadwayChica]

Posted: 2/16/06 at 5:13pm

I know of a couple of Broadway performers who smoke. It would be better for them if they didn't, of course, but it really hasn't affected their voice or performance.

[TheaterAddict7652]

Posted: 2/16/06 at 6:18pm

If it doesn't affect their voice now, it probably will in ten or fifteen years...maybe even five years.

[jv92]

Posted: 2/16/06 at 6:37pm

Well who does?
(And let's not get into a "Say No to Tobacco" thing everyone, let's see if it has affected their voice already.)

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 2/16/06 at 7:34pm

idinarocks- I was in the second row, I'm pretty sure they're fake (aside from the sign that said so).

[showinoff]

Posted: 2/16/06 at 8:11pm

for the record, Vicki Clark does not smoke. It is all an illusion called ACTING.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 2/16/06 at 9:53pm

Like others said, if you look in your playbill in clearly states that they use herbal cigerettes. Granted, I had the same concerns initially.