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'Actors' Beat Smoking Ban in Minn. Bars

Owners exploit loophole that lets thespians light up

By Caroline Zimmerman,  Newser User

Posted Mar 6, 2008 8:21 PM CST
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(Newser) – Stage performers are the only exception to the new smoking ban in Minnesota bars, so patrons are turning temporarily thespian and lighting up. The only props required at some of the 30 bars working the loophole are cigarettes and ashtrays—though some get more creative. "They're playing themselves before Oct. 1," one owner said. "You know, before there was a smoking ban."

One bar launched a Mardi Gras theme for its latest "theater night," and smokers came dressed as pirates and Victorian matrons; another stages "Tobacco Monologues." The histrionics are good for business: revenue fell 30% at one bar after the ban but bounced back with theater nights, AP reports. An unamused health department plans to start fining bars up to $10,000.

Billy Parrott, an improvisational actor by dint of a $1 badge, enjoys a smoke at The Rock Nightclub in Maplewood, Minn. Wed, March 5, 2008. Because a new smoking ban in Minnesota's bars contains an exception for theatrical productions, some bars are getting around the law by printing up playbills,...
Billy Parrott, an "improvisational actor" by dint of a $1 badge, enjoys a smoke at The Rock Nightclub in Maplewood, Minn. Wed, March 5, 2008. Because a new smoking ban in Minnesota's bars contains an...   (Associated Press)
An Act Now button (purchased for $1) identifies Courtney Conk as an improvisational actress, allowing her to light up a cigarette at the Rock Nightclub on theater night in Maplewood, Minn., Wed, March 5, 2008. Because a new smoking ban in Minnesota's bars contains an exception for theatrical productions, some...
An "Act Now" button (purchased for $1) identifies Courtney Conk as an "improvisational actress", allowing her to light up a cigarette at the Rock Nightclub on "theater night" in Maplewood, Minn., Wed,...   (Associated Press)
In his office at The Rock, a bar in Maplewood, Minn. Wed, March 5, 2008, owner Brian Bauman describes his efforts to warn customers about encountering smoke on theater nights at the bar. Because a new smoking ban in Minnesota's bars contains an exception for theatrical productions, some bars are...
In his office at The Rock, a bar in Maplewood, Minn. Wed, March 5, 2008, owner Brian Bauman describes his efforts to warn customers about encountering smoke on "theater nights" at the bar. Because a new...   (Associated Press)
The curtained entry to The Rock Nightclub in Maplewood, Minn. is identified as a stage entrance on Wed, March 5, 2008. Because a new smoking ban in Minnesota's bars contains an exception for theatrical productions, some bars are getting around the law by printing up playbills, issuing costumes to their...
The curtained entry to The Rock Nightclub in Maplewood, Minn. is identified as a "stage entrance" on Wed, March 5, 2008. Because a new smoking ban in Minnesota's bars contains an exception for theatrical...   (Associated Press)
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theater • smoking • cigarettes • Minnesota • smoking ban • bars • actor

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