Anna in the Tropics... Tobacco Leaves?

[gafftaper]

Hey Anybody done Anna in the Tropics? What did you do for Tobacco Leaves? We are doing it in Seattle in March... so it's going to be hard to find the real thing. Anyone got a source for raw tobacco leaves?

 

[avkid]

Know anyone in the Southeast?

 

[soundlight]

Just having been around 'em, you really don't want to deal with 'em. Where I used to live, there were fields and fields and fields of 'em. Find some sort of substitute - aka save yourself.

 

[Logos]

Doesn't Al Gore grow tobacco? Maybe he'll lend you some.

 

[Van]

You might try
http://www.theflowermart.com/

They've been relly nice to me. I'm not familiar with the show, what sort of action has to happen with them? are they Manipulated or simply a dressing piece.

 

[gafftaper]

The is about the Cuban tradition of having a person read great works of literature while the workers make cigars. So the director wants them actually rolling cigars on stage at one point.

Thanks for the tip Van, I just dropped the flower Mart a message.

 

[gafftaper]

Well the T.D. at the big theater here in town just sent me contact info for the tobacco farm they used when doing the show. I'm also told are green houses are willing to grow it for us for free. So it looks like I've got my problem solved.

 

[Van]

In the summer I have a Jasmine Tobacco plant that flowers at the front of my porch. It has beautiful white flowers, but the leaves are hairy and covered with sticky goo. Maybe I could cut a few leaves and dry them for you ?

 

[gafftaper]

The actors will apparently be rolling and licking the leaves to seal the cigars... so what you describe sounds PERFECT!

 

[jdartfan]

Hello!

I know this topic was brought up in another thread, but my situation is a little different because we can't use real tobacco leaves (this is at a college, so budget is an issue).

So far, I've had the most success with brown Kraft paper. It's cheap, which is nice because I'll probably have to make around 500 individual leaves. The biggest issue I'm having is figuring out how to make them behave believably onstage. The director want the actors to be rolling cigars throughout the play. I'm trying to figure out a way to keep the cigars rolled up. The set designer suggested double sided tape, but it seemed impractical. The costume designer suggested moisture activated glue (the stuff on envelopes). I don't know much about it, so I'll have to do some research.

Does anybody have additional suggestions? In perfect world, I'd like the solution to be temporary so I can reuse the leaves for each performance.

 

[venuetech]

just moisten the paper lightly and lay in a grooved tray?

 

[Amiers]

I agree with just a little spit, it's not sanitary but if each actor has their own paper there will be no cross licking.

Then just have them lay em vertical on the table, unless they are being placed in a cigar box. Fake lick and drop,through the hole in the cigar box into a catch bin. Rinse and repeat as needed.

 

[SHCP]

What about slight of hand? Can you have some already rolled up cigars on the table somewhere and just move things around? or a fake table with pockets to slide the leaves into and retrieve the rolled cigars?

 

[derekleffew]

bump