‘Stop vaping at the Wood’

A restroom vaping incident that set off a fire alarm at the Charles R. Wood Theater forcing an evacation that interrupted a show prompted the theater to post a note on Facebook:

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The Wood Theater wrote:

As disappointed as we are to have to continue to address this issue, we feel it imperative to communicate the details of a recent incident and an ongoing pattern that continues to disrupt performances at the Wood Theater.

On Saturday February 22nd at 9:14PM, just moments before RENT was to start Act 2, the fire alarm was triggered in a 2nd floor restroom. Thus, the entire sold out crowd, crew, and cast were forced to evacuate into 20 degree weather until the fire department could arrive and search the building.

Fire personnel arrived and checked all restrooms with staff and ensured there was not an active fire or threat to the safety of our audience and we were permitted to allow the audience back in and re-start the show with a 25 minute delay.

We would like to be very clear that although we do not and will never have cameras in, outside or near restrooms, many common areas in the theater are equipped with high quality security cameras for the safety of our building and everyone who utilizes it.

After reviewing footage of the auditorium area during Saturday’s show, we have clear video and photographic evidence of at least one member of our audience using a vaporizer or electronic smoking device in their seat during Act 1 of the performance. To protect the privacy of those around this individual, and because we do not believe that this individual was the cause for the fire alarm as they were seated when it was triggered – we will not be sharing this footage publicly.

However, it is abundantly clear that vaping in the theater is a very real and unfortunately very common occurrence. Our staff and ushers have had to ask audience members not to smoke or vape in the theater area on a number of occasions, but the use of these devices in unventilated, unmonitored spaces like restrooms has caused disruption to a number of performances by triggering the fire alarm.

Before you see a performance on our stage, months to years of planning, rehearsing, building, designing and hundreds of hours of late nights and in some cases tens of thousands of dollars go into making it happen. A disruption of this magnitude is a disservice to everyone involved in the production, fellow audience members and our staff and ushers who work tirelessly to provide a safe and enjoyable experience.

We cannot stress enough that smoking, vaping, or the use of any electronic cigarette or vaporizer is STRICTLY prohibited ANYWHERE in our facility. If you must use this kind of product during a show, please exit the building and do so outside. Re-entry is permitted and you will be re-seated at an appropriate break in the performance.

If at any time you see someone using an electronic smoking device, please immediately notify staff or an usher. Ushers are typically dressed in black and white and all staff and ushers wear red name tags to be quickly identified.

Anyone found to be in violation of this policy will be asked to leave without a refund.

We would like to thank our ushers for quickly and safely evacuating the theater, the cast and crew of RENT for their professionalism and understanding, the audience members for their kindness and patience as well as Mahoney Alarms and the Glens Falls Fire Department for their quick, professional and thorough response.

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