http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/category/theater.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/110292.php http://tobacco.org/news/266714.html The organisers of the Glyndebourne opera festival have been forced to distance themselves from British American Tobacco, sponsor of their production of Carmen and the world's second largest cigarette producer, after an investigation by local Trading Standards Officers branded aspects of the partnership illegal. The decision came just two days before the Government launched a wide reaching consultation on tobacco marketing including removing cigarette displays and branding on packs. Sponsorship deals where "the purpose or the effect" is to promote a tobacco product in the UK are illegal under the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002. In sponsoring a production of Carmen, the multinational giant used its corporate "BAT" logo rather than any one of its cigarette brands and so gave the impression of remaining just within the letter of the law. However, an investigation by leading tobacco campaigner Lord Faulkner of Worcester discovered that Glyndebourne were providing a link from their website to BAT's and so to product promotions. . . . "BAT appears to have believed that sponsoring Carmen would present the company in a positive light while promoting its products at the same time. They were wrong on both counts." Medical News TODAY UK Mon, 09 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://news.theage.com.au/national/smoking-on-film-faces-extinguishment-20080601-2kc1.html http://tobacco.org/news/266266.html Films, plays and other arts projects that feature smoking would see their government funding extinguished under a radical proposal by the Australian Medical Association. The AMA is calling on state and federal governments to amend arts funding guidelines to prohibit government support for any projects that "glamorise, feature or promote smoking". The AMA's Victorian branch has declared that the arts should not "act like a de facto affiliate of the tobacco industry". "The Victorian government, through Arts Victoria, should not support any program that features smoking," it states in its draft tobacco policy. The Age Australia Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/30/AR2008053002737.html http://tobacco.org/news/266258.html "The Country Girl" is not alone in setting the mood with cigarettes this season: It's light-up time on and off-Broadway. Ever since 2003 when New York City banned smoking in enclosed public spaces, theater directors have been walking a thin line between artistic freedom and legal necessity. Under a special exemption for the arts, theaters are allowed to use tobacco-free cigarettes -- usually sweet-smelling herbal cigarettes. Onstage at "South Pacific" in Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theater, GIs slap one another on the back as they light up at will. In "Boeing-Boeing" at the Longacre Theatre, Christine Baranski sensuously ignites a cigarette that can be sniffed in the balcony's back rows. In "Good Boys and True" at off-Broadway's Second Stage Theatre, Kellie Overbey brings back the 1980s with the pull of a cigarette. In "The Four of Us," off-Broadway at the Manhattan Theatre Club, two guys puff heavily as they discuss their lives. How does secondhand smoke in theaters affect audience members? Some aren't bothered at all. Vincent Cali, a Texan who recently saw "The Country Girl," is forgiving, noting that the smell cleared quickly after the initial blast. "It goes with the '50s," he said with the shrug. But while herbal smoke generally doesn't linger on the audience as much as the tobacco equivalent, theater staff admit that some audience members see it as an intrusion from a less socially aware time. . . . "There's no doubt that cigarettes can add a touch of reality," says Overbey of "Good Boys and True." "But sometimes the audience coughing is not a political point, but a subconscious one. There's been a huge cultural change, and people notice smoking when they would never have noticed it before." . . . For some heavy smokers such as actor Liev Schreiber, tobacco helps them relax while performing, and going herbal is an artistic sacrifice they are not willing to make. Using a little-known exemption to New York's anti-smoking laws, Schreiber was allowed to use real cigarettes for "Talk Radio" at the Longacre Theatre last year. "We got the permit from the city as long as we kept the smoke away from the audience," . . . Some actors report that anti-smoking protests are far worse in health-conscious Los Angeles. AP Sat, 31 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.brainerddispatch.com/stories/052808/new_20080528051.shtml http://tobacco.org/news/266252.html The state is taking the Bird's Nest in Garrison to court over the bar's use of a theatrical performance as a means to get around the state's smoking ban. The Minnesota Department of Health announced Tuesday it had served a summons and complaint against Roberta J. "Birdie" Johnson, owner of the Bird's Nest, stating the bar and restaurant has been in violation of the Freedom to Breathe Act by allowing customers to smoke inside while claiming they are actors in a play with a script that calls for smoking. The civil action was to be filed in Crow Wing County District Court. Brainerd Daily Dispatch webmaster@brainerddispatch.com (MATT ERICKSON Staff Writer) Wed, 28 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/05/30/tanks_smoking/ http://tobacco.org/news/266250.html A judge has ruled against another bar owner for violating the statewide smoking ban. Tank's Bar in Babbitt was the first bar in the state to be ticketed for violating the law. Virginia Judge James Florey ruled that Tank's Bar violated the law when it held theater nights. The Freedom to Breathe Act prohibits smoking in bars and restaurants but allows it for theatrical productions. Minnesota Public Radio Fri, 30 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=67601&section=Opinion&freebie_check&CFID=41572568&CFTOKEN=85805687&jsessionid=88306c825d4462584a7d http://tobacco.org/news/266247.html A bar pretending to be a theater is not a theater. And bar patrons pretending to be stage actors in obvious attempts to get around Minnesota’s statewide smoking ban is a clear violation of the law. That was the view of Minnesota Commissioner of Health Senne Magnan. Ditto for a Scott County judge who issued a temporary injunction to halt “theater nights” at an Elko, Minn., bar. Then, this week, Sixth Judicial District Judge James Florey ruled that Tank’s Bar in Babbitt — a real, not fictitious, establishment — violated the state smoking ban during its theater nights. Bar patrons wearing “actor” tags, Florey ruled, were “indiscernible from the general acts taking place in Tank’s Bar before the smoking ban went into effect.” . . . the reason behind the ban wasn’t to harm businesses. It was to protect bar employees and bar patrons from breathing toxic smoke and winding up in a hospital ward or worse, early grave, and to keep all of us from paying for it. Bar owners made their point about the ban’s unfortunate impacts. How many more rulings are needed before everyone can agree: A ban on smoking in public is a ban on smoking in public. Curtain. Duluth News-Tribune Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.timberjay.com/current.php?article=4379 http://tobacco.org/news/266246.html Minnesota's state-wide smoking ban had its first day in court last Friday at the St. Louis County Courthouse in Virginia before Judge James Florey. Tom Marinaro, owner of Tank's Bar in Babbitt, decided to test the legality of the state law in court after receiving a citation on March 14 for allowing patrons to smoke cigarettes in his bar. Marinaro's attorney, Mark Benjamin, used a "theatrical performance" exemption in defense of the charges, which allows actors to smoke real cigarettes indoors during performances. He claimed the law does not clearly define the term "theatrical performance." According to Benjamin, the prosecution and law enforcement officials said at the trial that the "play" had no scripts or costumes and the acting did not take place on the bar's stage. Therefore it was not a recognizable theatrical performance. Timberjay newspapers editor@timberjay.com (Scott Stowell) Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.startribune.com/local/19412459.html?location_refer=Business http://tobacco.org/news/266245.html a district court judge this week ruled that a Babbitt, Minn., bar's theater night is downright illegal. St. Louis County District Court Judge James Florey fined the owner of Tank's Bar in Babbitt $300 for violating the statewide ban on smoking. Like dozens of other bar owners around the state, Tank's owner, Tom Marinaro, has tried to take advantage of an exemption within the ban that allows actors to smoke during a theatrical production. But the judge gave a thumbs-down to such productions. "The [Legislature] did not intend the theatrical production exemption ... to become a blanket exception simply by having patrons in a bar put on name tags indicating the word 'actor,'" Florey said in a memorandum attached to his ruling on the case. "To hold as such would be an absurd result." Minneapolis Star Tribune Sat, 31 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=78120&section=news&freebie_check&CFID=41566657&CFTOKEN=57707822&jsessionid=883074bf02605ed73107 http://tobacco.org/news/266241.html VIRGINIA, Minn. — A judge is ringing down the curtain on “theater nights” at a bar in northeastern Minnesota. Tank’s Bar in Babbitt was allowing patrons to smoke under a loophole in the statewide smoking ban that allows actors to smoke as part of a theatrical production. But St. Louis County Judge James Florey ruled that merely adding a badge that says “Actor” does not make it a theatrical production. AP Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=8404506 http://tobacco.org/news/266191.html VIRGINIA, Minn. (AP) - A judge is ringing down the curtain on "theater nights" at a bar in northeastern Minnesota. Tank's Bar in Babbitt was allowing patrons to smoke under a loophole in the statewide smoking ban that allows actors to smoke as part of a theatrical production. But St. Louis County Judge James Florey ruled that merely adding a badge that says "Actor" does not make it a theatrical production. AP news8@wkbt.com Fri, 30 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/05/30/tanks_smoking/?rsssource=1 http://tobacco.org/news/266179.html A judge has ruled against another bar owner for violating the statewide smoking ban. Tank's Bar in Babbitt was the first bar in the state to be ticketed for violating the law. Virginia Judge James Florey ruled that Tank's Bar violated the law when it held theater nights. The Freedom to Breathe Act prohibits smoking in bars and restaurants but allows it for theatrical productions. Minnesota Public Radio Fri, 30 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=202126&section=News&freebie_check&CFID=38920052&CFTOKEN=85442831&jsessionid=8830ede07b2b625c3170 http://tobacco.org/news/265846.html It’s finally time for the smoking plays to go on trial. The first criminal case involving an alleged violation of the Minnesota Freedom to Breathe Act is scheduled to begin Friday afternoon in St. Louis County District Court in Virginia. Tom Marinaro, the owner of Tank’s Bar in Babbitt, was issued a $300 ticket on March 14 by Babbitt police for allowing a patron to violate the act. The violation is a petty misdemeanor, and Marino said the patron who prompted the ticket was a snowmobiler from the Twin Cities. . . . Cambridge, Minn., attorney Mark Benjamin, who hatched the theater nights idea and is representing Marinaro, said he believes the matter will ultimately be decided in the Minnesota Supreme Court. “Given that we don’t have any clear definition of what ‘theatrical performance’ means, the ambiguities have to be resolved in these criminal cases,” Benjamin said. Fargo In-Forum Fri, 23 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=67159&section=News&freebie_check&CFID=38920489&CFTOKEN=50076660&jsessionid=8830178f6c28545b6772 http://tobacco.org/news/265841.html Attorneys took just an hour Friday to present their cases to Judge James Florey on whether smoking “plays” at Tank’s Bar in Babbitt are legal. Minnesota’s first criminal trial over an alleged violation of the Freedom to Breathe Act, held in St. Louis County Court in Virginia, sought to answer one question: What, exactly, constitutes a theatrical production, and was such a thing going on at Tank’s Bar at 3:05 p.m. on March 14? Bar owner Tom Marinaro said it was. Sixth Judicial District Chief Judge Florey said he will issue a ruling on the case within seven days. Five witnesses took the stand Friday. Duluth News-Tribune jgoerdt@duluthnews.com (Janna Goerdt Duluth News Tribune) Sat, 24 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S454667.shtml?cat=10335 http://tobacco.org/news/265840.html Minnesota's first alleged smoking ban violation went to trial on Friday afternoon at the Virginia courthouse. Tom "Tank" Marinaro is the owner of Tank's Bar in Babbitt. He was cited back in March, for allowing smoking in his bar under the "theater nights" clause of the "Freedom to Breathe" Act. . . . On Friday, five witnesses testified about that March 14th day. The question for Judge Jim Florey: Does the smoking at Tank's qualify as a theatrical performance? . . . Judge Florey's ruling is expected next week. WDIO-TV/WIRT-TV ABC 10/13 Sat, 24 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/20755/smoking-ban-challenge-is-unrealistic-says http://tobacco.org/news/265763.html Equity ARC: Variety artists have failed to convince Equity that it should lobby government to change the smoking ban, which they believe is having a "catastrophic" effect on the light entertainment sector. Performers have warned that the legislation, which came into force last June, is causing pubs and clubs - one of light entertainment's biggest employers - to close at an alarming rate. This has had a knock-on effect for artists, and they claim that work opportunities have fallen by as much as 50%. Speaking at Equity's Annual Representative Conference, northern area councillor Yvonne Joseph said that the smoking ban had lead to a "disastrous loss of work" and urged the union to take an "immediate step to challenge the job losses". However, according to vice-president Jean Rogers, attempting to change the legislation would be a waste of staff resources. The Stage Newspaper Limited UK Tue, 20 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT