The statewide smoking ban could become a boon for Lipton Tea. Or we could be heading toward a major legal confrontation over the right to free speech in the live performances of plays.
Right now, no one knows for certain what the law allows – and no one is predicting how it might be interpreted if the issue came before a judge.
One thing we know for sure: When the smoking ban was brought before the state legislature, a specific exclusion for stage performances was proposed and defeated. The intent of state lawmakers was to ban onstage smoking of any kind. But the wording turned out vague.
The ban that just went into effect, of course, nixes smoking tobacco in indoor public places. But because most theaters have fired up nontobacco herbal cigarettes for years, that seemed at first no big deal.
Golden’s Miners Alley Playhouse was the first local theater company to face the possible consequences of the ban with its opening of “Last of the Red Hot Lovers.” Company leaders sought out guidance from state officials to avoid unknowingly breaking the law.
“The law is very specific in its definitions,” director Richard H. Pegg said. “It stipulates that tobacco of any kind, or any plant matter or product that is packaged for smoking (is now illegal). Thus, herbal tobaccos can’t be used either.”
That alone will make the issue one of significance for every theater in the state. The Bas Bleu in Fort Collins has used herbal cigarettes for years and planned to use them again when Ami Dayan puffs his way through his upcoming “The Man Himself” (Aug. 10-19).
“Maybe everyone will have to go to those white candy cigs with the red tips,” joked artistic director Wendy Ishii.
Pegg’s solution? Lipton Tea. “We needed to find something that would be legal under the new law,” he said. “As Lipton tea isn’t packaged for smoking, it fit the bill.”
Not so fast, said Deb Montgomery of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The law does not distinguish between who’s packaging the substance for smoking – the manufacturer or the consumer. So the act of rolling your Earl Grey as a stage cigarette could be seen by a judge as packaging it for smoking.
“What the law says is that there is no smoking of any kind in an indoor area unless listed as an exception,” Montgomery said. “Unless theaters are listed as an exception, my understanding is that the law applies to them.
“We can’t interpret the law, but that’s what the law says.”
The issue goes no further unless an audience member or employee complains. If one does, a theater like MAP could either cease its onstage smoking or challenge a complaint in court.
But if a judge rules the state can ban stage smoking of every kind, and therefore restrict the way a company may interpret art, we’ll be looking at a far greater issue of censorship, and soon.
Local leads “Phantom”
Hal Prince’s Las Vegas-sized, short-attention span production of “Phantom of the Opera” is a huge hit, thanks in large part to marvelous soprano Sierra Boggess, a 2000 graduate of George Washington High School.
Variety’s Phil Gallo wrote, “for much of the show Boggess, as Christine, displays fabulous technical dexterity with her voice, but on ‘All I Ask of You,’ the finest love song Andrew Lloyd Webber … has ever penned, her voice envelops the lyric with striking purity.”
This ain’t your parents’ “Phantom. It’s even been retitled “Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular.” This 90-minute “thrill ride” comes complete with pyrotechnics, special effects and, Gallo writes, “a chandelier that dwarfs every lighting fixture ever assembled for this warhorse.”
Boggess’ most significant credit to date had been a tour of “Les Miserables.”
CSF search update
A 10-member search committee has pared the field to replace retiring Colorado Shakespeare Festival producing artistic director Dick Devin to four candidates. After the final on-campus visit July 19, the committee chaired by Jim Symons hopes to recommend a successor by July 30. The final call goes to Todd Gleason, dean of the University of Colorado’s College of Arts and Sciences.
Briefly …
Former Denver Center Theatre Company favorite Robynn Rodriguez can be found in Ashland, Ore., where she is playing Constance in “King John” for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival … National Theatre Conservatory acting chair Larry Hecht is playing the title role in “King Lear” and Duke Frederick in “As You Like It” for Shakespeare Santa Cruz …
The Colorado Theatre Guild has a new president. She’s Jane Potts, a program manager for the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD). Longtime president Steve Wilson will remain a board member.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
