Topic Smoking in Gypsy from the General Chit-Chat forum.
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| Author | Topic: Smoking in Gypsy |
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bliss
Registered User
Registered:
4/5/2003 | posted: 7/28/2003 at 5:35:31 PM ET
Herbal cigarettes, that's fine, but I doubt that they do any less damage, and how do you go about getting a herbal cigar? Anyway this isn't about herbal or non, it's about the government banning things on the stage, that is WRONG! Telling artists what they can and cannot do, what sort of props they have to use, is a scary, scary thing. I smoke in the show, half a cigarette, and I will keep smoking that real cigarette.
| Bwaybaby
Registered User
Registered:
3/10/2001 | posted: 7/28/2003 at 6:57:38 PM ET
Well, I wasn't going to respond to this thread but for some reason I feel I need to now...
I think its completely out of line for the city to ban actors from smoking cigarettes on stage. I've had 4 close family members die from cigarette related illnesses.Was I really upset that they had to die at all? YES! but I can also acknowledge that it was their decision to smoke in the first place. I've even had one family member's house go up in flames due to an unattended cigarette and my little cousin died in that fire...so you'd think I'd really hate smoking all together. Its when people abuse their rights and harm others in the process that needs to be stopped NOT people's rights all together.
People have a choice on whether or not they want to view certain pieces of art (such as going to a museum or going to a play or musical). No one is forcing anyone in any particular theatre to be there. If someone is THAT bothered by the cigarette smoke then they can walk out. And I bet if they went to the Box Office and complained they'd probably get their money back too (because I'm sure the Box Office wouldn't want to deal with any sort of lawsuit). It would be a completely different story if theatre patrons were tied to their seats for 3 hours while actors blew cigarette smoke within an inch or two, directly into each of their faces non stop but that is NOT what's happening at all. I bet if you asked half of the audience about it their response( minus the Dainty June scene) would be: " They smoke cigarettes in this show???"
I personally thought that Sam Mendes decision and direction to have Dainty June rip out that cigarette was hysterical and pretty brilliant...it'd be a shame to see that cut from the show. Like someone stated earlier there are SO many things in this world that are 10 times worse than actors smoking on stage. Art is the last thing that should be censored. Art is about freedom of speech, about expression and about telling a story. How can it be called art when the government starts saying those same things are no longer allowed in certain art forms? What are they going to do next...ban Gypsy from ever being shown because it has strippers in the show?
NO ONE has the right to tell anyone how they should live their life or how they express their ideas -- as long as its done without harming others. It never ceases to amaze me how the Government will milk every part of the Constitution for what its worth and manipulate it when it suits their needs. Yet they continue to allow THOUSANDS upon thousands of innocent men, women and children die from starvation and violence every year. I wonder if half of our politicians have even read the Constitution or any history book to find out what America was built on--FREEDOM. And I personally think this whole "I'm going to sue you" crap has gone way too far. The First Amendment of the Constitution states : "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." So I say, more power to ya Kate!
|  Kevin
Site Administrator
Registered:
11/19/2000
From:
South Jersey
Fav. BP CD: Sondheim, Etc.
Fav. BP Song: No One Is Alone
| posted: 7/28/2003 at 7:02:50 PM ET
I understand where the gov is coming from, but I think it's a bit much. Perhaps they should just require shows to list a disclaimer like "WARNING: You might be exposed to very slight second-hand smoking." in much the same way you see pyrotechnics disclaimed.
-Kevin
Webmaster of Bernadette-Peters.com
|  UCFGuardgirl
Registered User
Registered:
6/15/2003
From:
New York City | posted: 7/28/2003 at 8:25:03 PM ET
Agreed with Bwaybaby and Kevin. Beyond that, I think it's ridiculous that the government is concerned with such nonsense. That a whiff of cigarette smoke is going to blow into someone's face during the show and ruin the performance for them, when meanwhile, there are STILL theatre-goers who come in 15 minutes late to a show and are allowed admittance, and there are STILL cell phones going off (with the ushers not doing a damn thing about it, even though cell phones have now been banned from theatres,) and electronic watch alarms going off, and now these walkie talkie things... If the government of NY is going to concern itself with anything to do with the theatre, they should concern themselves with items that ACTUALLY cause problems.
As far as the assertion that people who don't want to breathe in second-hand smoke at a restaurant should just go to another.... I wholly disagree. Why should I have to run off to another restaurant where I may not like the food, simply because the restaurant I like is overrun with smokers? It's ridiculous. Other people are making a conscious choice to smoke, which is fine for them, but I have just as much of a right to go out to eat and not breathe that smoke in. A small public place like a restaurant should be able to accomodate both smokers and non-smokers. But what if the restaurant is simply much too small to have divisible sections with distance between them?
Again, I'm not saying smoking should be banned from ALL restaurants. I think that, in a lot of cases, we're better off if smokers congregate inside rather than out. But I think with the smaller ones (and there are at least 5 or 6 in the town where I live) where the smoke is unavoidable, where it is impossible to have both a smoking and non-smoking section, that smoking should not be permitted.
It would be really nice if the restaurant upheld a no-smoking policy itself, but I think we all know that restaurants are not going to do it unless their arms are twisted. So I have no problem with the clean indoor air act as it pertains to smaller establishments. If people want to smoke, they can go outside. It's not like the government is stopping people from SMOKING. People have the right to smoke as much as they want. The government is just trying to protect the rights of people who choose NOT to smoke.
But as far as the performing arts goes... that's a whole other ballgame. Besides the act being an infringement of free speech, it's ludicrous. There isn't enough second-hand smoke on stage to make a hamster cough, let alone annoy a thousand theatre goers.
***************
"I'm not good I'm not bad I'm just right. I'm the witch; you're the world. I'm the hitch; I'm what no one believes, I'm the witch. You're all liars and thieves...oh, why bother?"
-- Into the Woods
|  mrbig
Registered User
Registered:
6/16/2003
From:
Dallas, Texas
Fav. BP Song: Not a Day Goes By
Fav. BP Show: Sunday in the Park...
Fav. BP Character: Dot in SITPWG
Fav. BP CD: Sondheim, Etc.
| posted: 7/28/2003 at 8:43:15 PM ET
I have gone to NY each summer for the past three years. I heard about the smoking ban before I got there this year. I was surprised how much dirtier the city seemed this year. Cigarette butts were literally all over the streets. In fact, in some areas the NY streets looked like great big ash trays.  In Dallas, we have a smoking ban as well. Like in Florida, smoking is banned in places where there is a larger percentage of food being sold. I think that it works for the most part, and most people are accepting of this. I am revolted that NY is now trying to govern was artists do on stage. Artistic expression should NOT be controlled by anyone.
mrbig from big d
"No matter what you say, Children Will Listen..."
|  Christine-NYC
Registered User
Registered:
3/23/2002
From:
New York City
Fav. BP Song: With So Little to be Sure Of
Fav. BP Show: Gypsy
Fav. BP Character: Marie (insert last name) lol There's a few
Fav. BP CD: Bernadette Peters Loves Rogers and Hammerstein
| posted: 7/28/2003 at 11:36:11 PM ET
BwayBaby, that was beautifully said. I was never really great at remembering anything from the constitution and whatnot, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna sit back and watch them go through with trying to control art and freedom of expression this way.
It is completely wrong to tell someone how to express themselves artistically. And how would people offstage even know the difference between herbal and non-herbal cigarettes? This entire thing is stupid!
<3CMH<3
| BroadwayBabyGal
Registered User
Registered:
5/8/2003 | posted: 7/28/2003 at 11:38:24 PM ET
I certainly agree that the government is becoming much too controlling, and that the risk of second-hand smoke from seeing Gypsy is practically non-existant. I got a good laugh when June lit up. However, I am very much anti-smoking. What's so bad about smoking fake cigarettes? The audience won't know the difference, and it's better for the actors' health. I guess I don't know what to think. It's a tough issue.
|  dulcinea4
Registered User
Registered:
5/13/2003
Fav. BP Song: MoveOn
Fav. BP Show: Gypsy
Fav. BP Character: Bailey Lewis
Fav. BP CD: Sondheim, Etc Live At Carnegie Hall
| posted: 7/28/2003 at 11:42:20 PM ET
(Coming from a non smoker)I think whoever is making these anti smoking laws should think back to a little thing called prohibition. That didn't last and I don't think this will either.
| Bwaybaby
Registered User
Registered:
3/10/2001 | posted: 7/28/2003 at 11:53:17 PM ET
Just for the record,herbal cigarettes can cover the lungs in as much tar as mild tobacco cigarettes. They also produce the toxin carbon monoxide.
| BroadwayBabyGal
Registered User
Registered:
5/8/2003 | posted: 7/29/2003 at 12:44:47 AM ET
I didn't know that about herbal cigarettes. I guess they might as well smoke real ones then. We live in a crazy world, that's for sure!
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