Bye Bye Birdie would have received four stars, but minus two stars for the smoking scene earns this musical two stars and a “hazardous to your health” warning sign.

The show is currently being featured at the Downey Theatre and is on its last leg this coming weekend.

This musical should come with a warning label that reads: you will like act one, but in act two if you have asthma, or any other health ailment that might be affected by our actors smoking a cigarette, you probably want to sit this one out.

Mind you I liked the musical part, though three hours long; the whole cast was great, especially the actress who played Mae Peterson, Brenda Cox, but I was very upset and disappointed that I was put vulnerable to second hand smoke.

The musical is about a songwriter and aspiring English teacher, Albert Peterson (Dink O’Neal), who is trying to get his famous rock’n’roll star Conrad Birdie, who has been drafted by the Army to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Albert is convinced he can make his fortune and marry his long-time love interest Rosie (Kristen Beth Williams) if he gets Conrad on the TV show to kiss a high school girl goodbye.

Though Albert’s mother Mae (Cox) will do anything to break him up with Rosie. Kim MacAfee (Stephanie Wall) and Hugo Peabody, the high school steadies, live in Sweet Apple, Ohio where most of the action takes place. They will use the publicity from this stunt to promote Birdie’s latest hit, “One Last Kiss.”

Albert’s mama is full of life, drama and guilt trips. She loves to make her son feel bad by telling him things as having to take taxis, the bus or even walk to save money for him. She is one of the funniest characters on stage besides Ursula, who Kim’s best friend.

I was astounded to see the two of the main characters smoking on center stage after the brief intermission in act two.

It was bad enough that the musical was an hour and a half just for act one. Then to come into the theatre after intermission, after getting some nice fresh air for act two, which was another hour and half, and have two actors enjoying a real cigarette during a scene was insane.

And I know I wasn’t the only one affected by the smoke. Others were coughing and got up to get fresh air.

I have had asthma since I was little, not bad mind you, but enough to be very sensitive to it; especially the smell of cigarette smoke. I don’t know if they have fake cigarettes that let out smoke but it sure something that the theatre company should look into if they want theatre patrons.

I think there are two reasons why I am upset about the smoke. One, there was no warning on the tickets or posters letting you know that you were going to be exposed to second hand smoke.

The second reason is because the sign they did have there was unnoticeable unless you were walking right past the window on your way out. Also, there was no warning before the show, but they did make an announcement about no flash photography and how it affects the actors on stage.

So what happened to making the audience healthy and happy? I assume they do want people to return to the show if I am not mistaken.

All these problems would have been solved if the theatre actually took care in what patrons might want and not want to see in the theatre.

But showing a musical that shows how cool it is to be a 15-year-old girl and smoking, probably did influence the children in the audience in some way and there were plenty of them watching.

Now, the musical itself was well done. The singing, dancing and acting made you feel like you were watching a show on Broadway. The characters made you laugh.

So all the good details were there to make a great musical, except being exposed to second hand smoke.

Albert’s mom Mae was the best one on stage; she was even given the longest applause for her acting.

The musical closes this weekend, so if you are up to the laughs, a good time at the show and feel like investing in a protective mask for the smell of cigarette smoke, then this show is for you.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.