Cigarettes and Tobacco News

May 6, 2007 -- CHICAGO (AP) - Actors in Chicago can forget about lighting up in the name of artistic integrity.

That's because a panel of city aldermen is refusing to grant dozens of theaters an exception to Chicago's smoking ban, which went into effect in January 2006.

To the chagrin of area thespians, the panel on Friday rejected a proposal by a vote of 4-2 that would have allowed actors to smoke when in character at performances.

A representative for the city's theater community says applying the ban to actors is akin to "telling an artist what color paint he should or shouldn't use."

Actors, he added, will continue to defy the law.

"We are not out there to tell the artist to modify their art," said Lou Raizin, president of Broadway in Chicago.

The public health-versus-artistic liberties debate is vexing communities and theaters across the country as smoking bans become more popular.

In October, a Colorado judge threw out a lawsuit after three theater companies sued the state, hoping to win the right to smoke on stage.

Legislators in Springfield passed a statewide ban last week; that measure is awaiting Gov. Rod Blagojevich's approval.

Proponents of Chicago's smoking ban said allowing on-stage smoking is a health hazard.

"It would be hypocritical of me to vote for an ordinance that bans smoking in Chicago..., then go out and say we're going to give an exemption to actors smoking on stage where the cigarettes are going to be in the air," said Ald. Ray Suarez.

Kelvy Brown, legislative coordinator for the city's Health Department, said the agency hasn't cited theaters for violating the ban and city inspectors would only police theaters in response to complaints.

Theaters could legally use herbal cigarettes as a props in performances, Brown said.

Recent major Chicago productions that feature smoking include "Twelve Angry Men," "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," "Guys and Dolls," "The Graduate," and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Katie McLean, an actress who plays a chain-smoking, rebellious teenager in the Lifeline Theatre production of "Crossing California," said she couldn't imagine assuming her character's role in a smoke-free theater.

"Smoking really defines a lot of who she is," McLean said.