It was October 14th 2001. Shavonne and I just returned from a date. It was one o'clock in the morning and insisted on walking home. Our apartment was right around the corner from my parents house where I was living at home at the time. I was walking up Washington Lane towards Germantown Avenue on my phone when I saw a group of guys suddenly get up come towards me. They were coming down the adjacent street which was very dark. All I saw was shadows. My heart imediately began to race. I thought to run but I wasn't sure I was in danger. So I crossed the street heading toward the gas station which was lit and where there was people. I hadn't even got across the street when I felt a blow to the right side of my face. I fell to the ground. I remember thinking I was going to die. I didn't see anybody but felt 5 or 6 guys around me. One of them grabbed my phone from my hand. I felt relieved because I realized they were only robbing me and maybe not going to kill me. I reached into my pocket and gave them my wallet. I was still laying on the ground. Then they ran off. I stood up and saw blood all over my hands, face and the front of my shirt. I couldn't close my mouth and thought they knocked all my teeth out. I got to the gas station and the security guard called the police and Shavonne. They took me to MCP Hospital where the doctor told me I had a broken jaw in two places. The worst he had ever seen. I actually didn't lose any teeth as I first thought. I vaguely remember a cop coming and asking me for a description. He seemed very pessimistic that they would find anybody. I had surgery the next day and had my mouth wired shut for two weeks. At the time I was still teaching drama with the Department of Recreation and understudying the role of Will Allen in "Baby Case" at the Arden Theatre. The doctor insisted I stay off my feet for a week to keep the swelling down. I wasn't going to do that of course. My mom would sleep with one open and the next morning as I was trying to leave the house she blocked my way from the door. She wasn't letting me out. I went in to a depression. The doctor told me the fracture in my jaw severed a nerve in my face and I lost some feeling in my lip and chin. They told me it could effect my talking and singing. The feeling never came back. Shavonne and I were getting married in two months and I was out of work. The Department of Recreation hired somebody else when I couldn't say for sure when I was coming back. The Arden Theatre hired someone else as well. It was very depressing. I should have postponed my wedding but pride wouldn't allow me to do that. I wouldn't let some punk on the street dictate when I was getting married. So I pluged forward. I had a couple odd jobs like a door to door salesman selling home security systems and a comission based job working for a advertising company. I quit these jobs a week or so after I started them. Then in November Shavonne and I started working at Hossana Ministries Inc. They were an after-school program near Broad and Erie. I tutored kids and taught drama. It was now January 2002. Shavonne and I were already married. One morning I was checking my email and saw I received an email from Kevin Collins an actor I worked with at Historic Philadelphia. He forwarded me an ad from Sail Productions. They were auditioning for the role of Charles Nalle for the national tour of Harriet Tubman. The auditions were the next day and it was late at night when I got the ad. I figured they already had the day booked for audtions. I left a message anyway. The next day Tony Siniscalco, the Artistic Director of Sail Productions, called me in for an audition. The company was based in New Jersey. I took the R7 train to Trenton. I had avery good audition. Tony called me the next morning to tell me I had been cast in the National Tour of Harriet Tubman as Charles Nalle. Shavonne and I just got married and here I was about to go on a six week tour. She understood as best she could. Besides it paid well and we needed the money. The cast was Eric Scalise, Nick Sinkler, Alicia Williams, Nicole Venson and Amanda Harvey. Nicole played Harriet Tubman. She quit the tour three weeks in while we were in Miami because she got in an argument with Eric. She felt everybody was picking on her so she quit. She was a talented girl but I felt she had major psycological issues. Alicia filled in for Harriet and Sail hired Phyllis Bickam to cover Alicia's role. Phyllis was a great singer and actress and made the whole sound of the ensemble better. That was a crazy tour. Our company manager, Jack, was a drug addict and slept with guys he would meet online in every city we went to. When Sail found out they fired him and replaced him with Ian Butterbaugh. Despite the Real World drama, it was a very good show. In March of 2002 we perfomed at the Grand Ole Opry. I performed there in 2000 with Charlotte's Web. It was great to be back. The late Luther Vandross was there the week before but cancelled his show because it only 3/4 sold out. We sold out both our shows totaling 4000 people! We thought that was cool. Anyway, it felt good to be back. My career was in a funk the past year and a half and this is just what it needed...
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