What's with the herbal cigarettes?

[hushpuppy]

Posted: 6/19/05 at 10:38pm

I saw 'Piazza' today (3rd time, love this show) and noticed the posting about 'herbal' cigarettes being used in this show. Same with 'Woman Before A Glass', and 'Thrill Me'. I'm not one of those anti-smoking scolds but I am curious as to why herbal versus plain old cigarettes? I can't imagine they're any healthier. Are they worried about non-smoking actors becoming addicted to nicotine?

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 6/19/05 at 10:44pm

"People who are non-smokers, as probably most singers are non-smokers...really don't want to become addicted to smoking...therefore, herbal cigarettes are a better alternative."

I wouldn't think that would matter, though, since I doubt that any of them inhale. They probably just take a quick drag and blow it out.

Posted: 6/19/05 at 10:45pm

We had to use them in shows here in Ontario because of the strict no public smoking laws that we have so in Grease, sweet charity and alot of opera herbal cigarets are the only thing used

[BluCat500]

Posted: 6/19/05 at 10:47pm

I appreciated the smoking onstage, it made the experience more visceral...Of course, now i have have the *Hem, Hem* black lung and will of course be suing...

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/19/05 at 10:52pm

It's actually because the use of tobacco products in any contained area that's open to the public -- including on stage in performance -- is illegal in the state of New York. The Bloomberg NYC anti-smoking bill actually carved out an exception for theatres, but the Pataki statewide one made no such exception and so if smoking is to occur in a dramatic production, then herbal cigarettes must be used (or occasionally they use cigarette-like props that actually blow out white talcum powder).

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 6/19/05 at 10:55pm

do actors have the choice? personally I would much prefer the fake cigarettes. why endanger everyone's health for the sake of authenticity??? use your imagination people...

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/19/05 at 10:58pm

I sincerely doubt that one cigarette burning in a 1500 seat theatre has much if any second-hand smoke dangers. You get more carcinogens in your lungs when you walk out of the theatre and buses and cabs come by spewing exhaust in your face.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 6/19/05 at 11:02pm

in city of angels we actually used real cigarettes... when i did cabaret we used these fake cigarettes that you didn't even have to inhale anything, you could just make them blow out smoke... they were cool

[cturtle]

Posted: 6/19/05 at 11:10pm

if a cigarette is lit on stage, it bothers me wherever i'm sitting. i DETEST the use of cigarettes on stage. character can be expressed in SO many other ways than the actor smoking.

Posted: 6/20/05 at 12:00am

funny, my mom was bothered by the cigarettes in Piazza- she kept covering her nose. I didnt even smell them.

[Tiny-Toon]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 12:14am

Anybody knows what Tovah Feldshuh used is Golda's Balcony?
She smoked the whole 85 minutes and I didn't smell anything

[dotmarie]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 12:23am

On her website Susan Egan mentioned that she smoked Capris cigarettes in "Cabaret" because the herbals killed her chords, although most other actors prefer them.

[DefyingPopular]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 12:37am

the Piazza cigs STUNK!!!! omg i was 10th row on the left hand side of the stage, and they smelt so bad. i had to keep covering my nose. My friend was closer to the stage, on the other side of the same section and also smelt them. I dunno what they are, but they should use the fake ones that you can blow smoke out of.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 1:57am

I wonder how much of a say the actors have in this matter. I know that I wouldn't ever want to smoke any kind of cigarette, real or herbal, on stage. Hmmm...

~Steven

[kitkatgirl54]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 2:00am

i've done some research on this and the only thing that is missing from herbal cigarettes is the nicotine. so, technically it is less bad for you and certainly less addicting. the carbon monoxide is still there though so it's not like it's GOOD for you. but it is the lesser of two evils, i suppose.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 2:09am

Updated On: 7/22/05 at 02:09 AM

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 2:12am

The first time I saw the show, I didn't smell them. But that's because I was in the second to last row in the loge. When I saw it recently, I was in center orchestra and I definitely smelled them.

~Steven

[zoran912]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 3:56am

I'll have to remember to bring my inhaler when I see it in August.

[BJC899]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 7:20am

I just remembered they used herbal ciggs in 12 Angry Men...

[Mamie]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 8:32am

I smoked for many years before FINALLY being able to quit entirely in '96. Since then I've become more and more sensitive to tobacco smoke. So much so that now I have a hard time staying in a room in which smokers have ever stayed. I can't even stand next to a smoker on the subway or bus. I really never thought I'd be that way but if I am around smokers I find myself holding my breath until I can get away. If I were sitting in the front of the theatre and real cigarettes were being smoked, I'd have to leave. I'm just not able to be around it anymore.

I really do wish they'd just do away with it altogether. Smoking herbal or fake cigarettes on stage just delivers a subliminal message to younger viewers that it's really all right to smoke. Believe me - I'd do anything to undo my old addiction. I can't do that, but I can hope to keep others from getting it!

[Jera]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 8:39am

My mom is severely allergic to perfumes and plant/herbal scents. We are seeing the show in two weeks. I hope they don't upset her, because she will actually have to leave the show to vomit if they do.

jera

[nmartin]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 8:45am

Lighting one up even as I type.

[starlight2]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 9:04am

I can tell you that I was in the 3rd row at "Piazza", and I smelled something extremely unpleasant, I am not a smoker, and realized one of the actors was smoking on stage( besides Matt who is always "smokin"!, (: anyways, it continued throughout the show and that was the ONLY complaint I had about the show,although I realized it was a period piece and that is what they did, but the production and the acting, well, it was AMAZING!

[NYC_dude]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 10:47am

OMG! I never knew actors actually smoke on stage! even though it's better than the addicticting ones I still don't like the ideas and won't it kill the actors voice??/ Very surprising....

[CurtainUp]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 11:06am

Cturtle, that's really an interesting point. Yet, my brilliant English teacher spent about 15 minutes discussing Blanche's cigaretter in "Streetcar" and how it symbolized dependency, etc. And characters CAN be expressed in many other ways, but if the character would smoke - it just makes it more realistic. Not even a way to EXPRESS The character's attribute, some characters would and some wouldn't.