The Wrecking Ball - we swung hard and mighty across the Nation!

Madame and Matante speak with Halifax. K. Rogers Hall looks on. (Oct. 6th, MainLine Theatre)

LE WRECKING BALL - We did it - Monday night was a huge success! And I bet they never saw that one coming.

Check out our national coverage at http://www.cbc.ca/arts/theatre/story/2008/10/06/political-theatre.html

With upwards of 120 people in attendance, and a raucous energized crowd throughout the evening, we managed to raise serious funds for the campaign activities of the Department of Culture in this final week.

With Madame and Matante presiding over the evening's ceremonies, we shared riotous moments as the calls came in from Halifax, and were passed on through Ottawa; artists and musicians roused the masses through their indictment of an 'artless Canada', and their love for freedom of expression; the electricity of the audience carried us from start to finish as we fired through an inspired three hours! of theatre, politics, and cabaret. Thank you to all for coming, and to our wonderful volunteers and artists who donated their time and their inspiration; your commitment resonated throughout the night, and across the country, let me tell you!

Here's what other Wrecking Balls had to share:

Toronto - "Well we did it. Congratulations to all of you! It was a really terrific evening in Toronto. The audience was in brilliant form. As were all the pieces...this was definitely one of our strongest Balls."

Ottawa - "We wrecked 'em good! Ottawa was fantastic! (...) During our call from Montreal, Paula Danckert let out a great cry of recognition from the back of the room: "It's Matante!!!" (...) Hope this isn't the last WB in Ottawa... the appetite for political theatre is definitely here."

Vancouver - "Vancouver rocked out as well. The Stanley Theatre (seats 600?) was over capacity. People were spilling out into the lobby watching by live feed t.v. (...) The wrecking ball was electric. The audience was loud and united and hungry for anything we threw at them. (...) All of us were commenting after that none of us had seen anything quite like this in Vancouver before. What a night!"

Edmonton - "In only 8 short days, very little press and scrambling like crazy we were able to fill our venue! We held it at the Varscona Theatre and had over 180 guests sitting, sprawled out in the aisles and standing on the sidelines."

Winnipeg - "Add Winnipeg to the Standing Room Only list (...) The mood was amazing--there was a full minute of applause when the house lights went down at the very start of the show--the audience is starving for this kind of show. So, I think, are the actors (...) And yet one more highlight was the simplicity of that darn cell phone on the chair lighting up right at the end of our very first piece with a hello from Cornerbrook--I think that, above all, made everyone suddenly realise and believe we were all part of a nationwide phenomenon and ramped up the whole night ten more notches."

Cornerbrook, NL - "And thanks to everyone and all who organized this event from us here in Corner Brook - we had a great time, the speeches were great, the dancing was fantastic- and it was really special to have that live connection on the cellphone. Congrats all!"

For more recaps, check out www.thewreckingball.ca Thank you all!