This embrace will ring a bell for our contest winners – and other fans of Cloud 9

A few weeks ago we asked everyone – our cast, folks on the street and eager theatre fans hoping to win tickets to Cloud 9 – to complete the sentence “I’m on Cloud 9 when….”

This past Tuesday the winners of our lucky draw enjoyed a dinner out, tickets to Cloud 9 and a backstage tour courtesy director Alisa Palmer. One of our winners, Steve Rudman, reported “I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was as if I was in Paris at a theatre. I was greeted at the door by a person that took me and my guest directly to our seats. The whole evening was spectacular.” Michelle Threndye, another winner, wrote “This is a very witty, charming and sexy play. The cast is outstanding. And it was such a pleasure to meet Alisa – she’s such an insightful director. Thank you for the wonderful night out!”

We’re excited to report that we have another surprise contest winner. So many of the entries were heartfelt, sweet, even funny – we decided to ask cast member and celebrated author Ann-Marie MacDonald to read the more than 700 entries and choose her own personal favourite.

It was Sally Thomas’s submission that caught Ann-Marie’s attention: “I’m on Cloud 9 when I see my tattered life reflected back to me in all its glory!” In acknowledgement of her thoughtful entry, Sally receives a signed copy of Ann-Marie’s acclaimed second novel “The Way the Crow Flies”. As many of you know, Ann-Marie’s first novel “Fall on Your Knees” is currently in contention as part of CBC’s annual Canada Reads competition.

Thanks to everyone for participating.

David Jansen as 5-year-old Cathy (photo by Cylla von Tiedemann)

The reviews – from old school critics, new school bloggers and from people who go see theatre to, well, go see theatre – are in. And they’re outstanding.

The Globe’s R. Kelly Nestruk says CLOUD 9 is “a parade of pleasurable performances.” The Sun’s John Colbourn describes it as a “brilliant and witty commentary on the enduring nature of human passion and compassion.” On CBC Radio One, resident theatre critic Lynn Slotkin raves that CLOUD 9 is “directed with style by Alisa Palmer” and “there are seven actors at the top of their game, and the result is a production that will have theatre-goers on cloud nine when they see it.”

In the blogosphere, mooneyontheatre is “fascinated by how well Ann-Marie MacDonald and David Jansen captured the mannerisms of their child characters”, while blogTO calls it a “raucous mash-up of age and gender, race and sexuality.”

But the most rewarding feedback is coming in from our audience: the people who are buying the tickets, braving the cold, and filling the Panasonic night after night. Sandy (a self-described late 40’s feminist engineer), writes on her blog that a “great script, excellent actors and fabulous costumes make for a fun night out.” Perry T. calls CLOUD 9 a “fantastic, daring show.” Patti S. “loved Churchill’s flip on gender, age and race.” And Barrie W. tells us: “I saw it in about 1982 or so, and don’t remember it being this funny.… The deliberate mixing up of genders is a brilliant theatrical conceit and takes the play out of the ordinary – now no less than 30 years ago. The cast is uniformly splendid.”

If you’ve seen CLOUD 9, tell us what you think – enter our “Was It Good For You?” contest here. And if you haven’t… well you should believe everything you read (just this once!) and come experience CLOUD 9 yourself.

With only two days left to enter our “I’m on Cloud 9” contest, we hit the streets to find out what puts Torontonians on Cloud 9.

It turns out most of us haven’t moved very high up Maslow’s hierarchy when it comes to spontaneously articulating our most bliss-inducing states. Delicious taco anyone?

Here are David’s feelings about being on Cloud 9. To hear from the rest of the cast, and to win tickets, dinner and a backstage tour, just head to our contest page.

For those of you who don’t yet have Cloud 9 tickets (and for those of you who do, but know you’ll want to go again), you now have a chance to win a pair of tickets to the show, dinner for two, and a backstage tour. Basically a perfect night out! So pencil Tuesday February 2nd into your calendar and enter by completing the phrase “I’m on Cloud 9 when….”

For inspiration, check out Evan’s take on what Cloud 9 means to him. Then head to our contest page to watch all the videos.