Creating the 1950s Smoking Scenes in Grease at Beau Rivage

When Rand Productions brought Grease: The Musical to Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, in summer 2025, the production transported audiences back to Rydell High and the unmistakable world of 1950s America.

For a musical so closely associated with its period, getting the visual details right matters. The hairstyles, costumes, cars and props all contribute to creating that world.

And in Grease, one of those details is cigarettes.

Several of the production's leading performers used Stage Props professional theatrical smoking props to create convincing smoking scenes as part of their characters and the period setting.

These behind-the-scenes photographs from the production show exactly what these props were designed for: becoming a natural part of the performance.

Bringing the world of Grease to life

Grease is one of the most recognisable musicals in the world. Set around the students of Rydell High in the 1950s, its visual identity is almost as familiar as its music.

Rand Productions' production at Beau Rivage featured a cast of more than 20 performers and a live band, bringing the story and songs of Grease to the Beau Rivage Theatre in Biloxi.

Behind the production was Rand Productions, a US entertainment and experiential production company led by President and Executive Producer Jeb K. Rand. The company has decades of experience producing Broadway musicals, original theatrical productions, live entertainment and special events internationally.

For Grease, the challenge of depicting smoking was straightforward: cigarettes belong naturally to the visual language of the period, but using real cigarettes on stage would introduce something the production simply did not need.

Professional theatrical props provided the visual effect instead.

A theatrical prop that becomes part of the character

The photographs from the production show particularly well how a small prop can contribute to character and period.

Combined with the costumes, hairstyles, makeup and body language of the performers, the cigarette immediately becomes part of the 1950s image.

And when the scene requires the character to appear to smoke, the performer can create a visible vapour effect on cue.

Rand Productions highlighted this specifically when sharing the photographs with us. They found the props highly realistic on stage and valued being able to create the visible effect without asking the performers to smoke real cigarettes – particularly important in a musical where actors depend on their voices and bodies throughout the production.

That is exactly the distinction behind Stage Props.

These are not consumer smoking products adapted for use on stage. They are professional theatrical props created specifically for productions that need to portray smoking as part of a performance.

Designed to support the performance

A good theatrical prop should help tell the story without drawing unnecessary attention to itself.

The audience should not be thinking about how the cigarette works. They should simply see the character smoking and accept it as part of the scene.

For the performer, it should be equally straightforward.

There is no combustion, ash or open flame. The performer simply uses the prop as part of the action and creates the visible effect required for the scene.

This becomes particularly relevant in live musical theatre, where the same performance may be repeated night after night and the prop needs to work naturally within acting, singing, movement and choreography.

A small detail from another era

Smoking is not what Grease is about.

But recreating another period convincingly often depends on precisely these kinds of details.

A hairstyle. A pair of sunglasses. A jacket. The way a performer stands. Or a cigarette held naturally between two fingers.

Individually, they may be small things. Together, they create the visual language that tells an audience where – and when – the story takes place.

The behind-the-scenes photographs from Rand Productions' Grease capture that beautifully.

For us, they also show Stage Props exactly where they belong: not as the centre of attention, but in the hands of professional performers, helping a production tell its story.

Stage Props in Theatre Productions

At Stage Props, our products are used by theatres, film productions, operas, acting schools and performers internationally.

If your production of Grease or another theatre, film or live performance requires realistic smoking scenes, you can learn more about our stage cigarette prop system here.