THE CAST & CREW OF DERRELL G. OWENS STAGE PLAY "THE FAMLY MANTLE" ROCKS IN CHICAGO!!!!!

Thanks to everyone out there who sent well wishes via text, emails, social media posts and/or being there in person to support the cast of The Family Mantle. You are truly appreciated! There are those of you who were unable to make it but live for a recap to make you feel as if you were there and I am here to assist you with that. Hold on because it's gonna be a bumpy ride!!!!!

While I know that nothing would make you happier than to hear that everything went "picture perfect" or "smooth as silk" if that saying works better for you(LOL), in the preparation of this out of state dream come true opportunity...I cannot tell a lie, there were quite a few challenges...

"Like what?" you may ask. Omg...so nosey. LOL

Ok, ok...you twisted my arm...here we go:

1st-The airlines lost a cast mate's luggage that was fully equipped with everything he needed to perform.

2nd-The hotel messed up the reservations.

3rd-One cast mate was having quite the caffeine withdrawal.

4th-Another cast mate's bathroom flooded so bad she thought she would need a canoe.

5th-To say we were all sleep deprived is doing nothing more than stating the obvious.

6th-There was a health scare.

7th-Less than 24 hours before the performance we were informed that the mantle that was going to be used on stage was no longer available. Yikes! Uh, the show is called The Family Mantle. How are you going to have a show called The Family Mantle with no mantle?!!!!!!

Of course there's MORE that happened but you guys don't need to know everything...LOL!!

The best thing about all the challenges we had as a cast and crew was our ability to overcome them.

The luggage was found and delivered in time for the performance. The reservation confusion was resolved the next day. The one cast mate got his coffee! I was moved to another hotel room with zero water on the floor...yay! We still got no sleep. Can't have everything right? The health scare was no longer a scare, more like a health concern although another crew member felt like she had sand in her throat by the end of the night. Hope you're feeling better! Drum roll please...WE FOUND A MANTLE but not just any mantle...a beautiful mantle! #WINNING

Boards were up, pictures were hung, props were in place, the cast is in the dressing rooms getting ready to take the stage, the house is open, our audience is ready to see a great show and we are ready to deliver. The countdown begins. Five, 4, 3, 2, 1...we're on and we are having a blast. The audience is laughing and crying. The cast is leaving it all on the stage. Before we knew it we were taking our final bow at curtain call.

Yay...we did it! We were super excited about our performance but we were also exhausted and truthfully most of us would love to go back to the hotel immediately and crash since we all had top of the morning flights but a great friend of our cast mate was throwing us a cast party! Now I'll be the first to admit, I thought it would be an intimate party with a few friends and the cast and crew of The Family Mantle but to all of our surprise...it was ALL THE WAY LIVE. #PLEASEBELIEVEIT

We entered into a beautiful and spacious home fully equipped with smiling faces that cheered and applauded us upon our arrival. Great company, food, music, drinks and a dance floor...I'm here for that!(LOL) I'm so glad we attended. To say we had fun is an understatement. We laughed. We took pictures. We photo bombed each other. We ate...food was too yummy...especially that bow tie lasagna...just saying. They drank...#TURNUPTIME and we all danced to an insane degree. The music was undeniably #AMAZING A special thanks to Marcell's friend Keith for throwing the best cast party EVER!