In my early days at The Colony, in the 1990s, smoking was allowed anywhere backstage, and it had only been recently that smoking had been prohibited in the dressing rooms. Back then every wall had an orange painted butt can attached to it and other cans were on the benches. You could even puff away as you waited on make an entrance, dropping your butt into the can next to the assistant stage manager's desk as you entered. I used to stash my cigs and lighter in the stage left scene dock where they were convenient when I ran off stage.
Along about 1999 smoking was restricted to the long benches and for some reason you had to sit down to smoke. No smoking standing up! Later the smokers were relegated to a corner behind the costume shop.
Nowadays smoking is not allowed "backstage." This means that the past 2 or 3 years smokers had to stand just outside the back gate.
This years the actor techs, under the direction of the maintenance staff (who smoke) have built a little shaded smoking area just outside the gate area.
Smoke em if you've got em.
Don: I just found your blog via the MyFamily site and have spent the last bit reading through all of your posts. Thanks for sharing with us! Really enjoyable. Have a great season! - Emily Moses
ReplyDeleteI kind of love "No smoking standing up." It reinforces my theory that the very best thing about smoking is the opportunity to just sit on your ass. Especially in the restaurant biz. The non-smokers never get to shout as they run out the back door "Watch my tables, I am gonna go sit on my ass!"
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