The actors and event organizers were a bit late, because they were coming from a live broadcast of Windy City Live, where hosts Ryan Chiaverini and Val Warner had just interviewed Chrishelle Stause and Terri Ivens live on-air. Val Warner was also co-hosting this event at Sidetrack. Chiaverini wasn't scheduled to appear, but he ended up tagging along. According to some of the VIP attendees who had also witnessed his interview with the lovely ladies, this was due primarily to his being smitten with Chrishell Stause! You can check out the Windy City Live segment here: 

Tracy Butler of local ABC news was doing segments live from the bar even before the actors showed up. She is a very familiar staple for Chicagoans. And, as I would soon find out, she is also a diehard ABC soap fan. There was an excitement in the air, and I began to feel the significance of this event. I don't mean this fan event, but the fact that All My Children was actually coming to an end. I could feel the weight of that, and what it meant to the line of people waiting outside in the drizzling rain. Being a huge OLTL fan, I started to realize that in just a few months, this sort of feeling would be back. I guess "surreal" would be the most apt word for this feeling.

The actors' arrival at Sidetrack was marked by the loud screaming of female (and maybe a few male?) fans. First down the line was Brian Gaskill (ex-Bobby), followed by Chrishell Stause (Amanda), Matthew Borlenghi (ex-Brian), Terri Ivens (ex-Simone), and Jeffrey Carlson (ex-Zoe/Zarf). My first impression of all of them was how incredibly good looking they are in person! It really drives home the point that looks are extremely important in television... because these folks are all drop dead gorgeous! Brian Gaskill is very tall, which surprised me. Matthew is also tall and very well-built, and I would say, better looking in person than on TV. Terri Ivens is the tiniest slip of a thing you have ever seen, and Jeffrey Carlson is somehow aging in reverse! Chrishell Stause has a genuine star quality that the fans went wild for. She entered while filming the line of fans on her phone. At this point, the actors and the VIP people were ushered into a private room for an hour or so.

During this private party, about twenty fans or so could intermingle with the stars while Tracy Butler filmed the news with an ABC news crew in the background. Periodically, she would pull one of the actors out of the socializing so that she could interview them. Here is the news segment with Tracy Butler, with the VIP party in the background, you can actually see me for quite awhile, directly behind Tracy's left shoulder, in a mostly dark outfit with a little speck of white sticking out - that's my bow tie! This is a great clip with lots of interviews, made all the better by the fact that Tracy is a HUGE All My Children fan, not just a random meteorologist. At the end of this segment, which was filmed right before the final episode aired, she reads the words of Agnes Nixon and actually breaks down crying:

 During the VIP party, I talked with Brian Gaskill, who is very soft spoken, Matt Borlenghi, who was looking for extra sharpie pens to sign memorabilia with, Jeffrey Carlson (who is a personal friend to begin with), and finally, though I was a bit shy at first, introduced myself to Chrishell and got my picture taken with her. She just glows with a special energy, and she definitely won over a new fan today! I don't know if I'll ever see those pictures, since they weren't taken on my camera - but I hope so! Incidentally, Chrishell immediately knew Soaptown USA and had a positive reaction to finding out I was covering the event for this site.  I thought that was impressive!

After the VIP party, we all crammed into a larger area of the bar where a panel was set up for the actors, and where all of the fans who had waited in line were situated. The official event started with hosts Val Warner and event organizer Jason Spitzer getting the crowd riled up. Val asked Tracy Butler (the aforementioned local meteorologist) what the forecast was for the weekend, and Tracy said there was "no sunshine" because of All My Children's cancellation. Jason asked the crowd who had watched AMC since day one, and about twenty people raised their hands. He then introduced Matt Borlenghi, Brian Gaskill, Jeffrey Carlson, Terri Ivens, and finally, Chrishell Stause.  

I wasn't sure if a huge room full of people (Sidetrack is one of the largest bars in the world, with huge plasma televisions throughout) drinking alcohol would be able to be quiet and pay attention to the episode. Thankfully, my doubts were quickly vanquished as a hush fell over the room. 

I wish I could describe how much fun it was to watch an episode of a soap opera with hundreds of people. We were completely transfixed on the televisions, and huge cheers and even a few jeers erupted during the episode.  This experience made it very clear to me that the daytime serial still has a huge power over people. Of course, it helped that this episode was flawlessly constructed and executed. I thought it was one of the best episodes of All My Children I've ever seen; definitely the best in many years. The crowd seemed to feel the same way. 

During the first wonderful montage, I noticed Chrishell Stause crying when Amanda was shown giving birth. All of the actors, even those who have not been on the show in many years, were intently absorbed by the drama.  When Marian was brought in to see Stuart, the first wave of loud cheering erupted. In fact, I was the first to cheer, because I LOVE Marian and I think bringing back Stuart is the absolute best gift Lorraine Broderick could have come up with for the fans. As the first segment progressed, I also quickly realized that Jacob Young was going to walk away with the best acting performance. He really ruled the episode.

When JR said, "My son's not being raised by lesbians," boos broke out. This is a gay bar, after all!

During the commercial breaks, the TV’s went mute and the panel discussions resumed. In the first break, Terri Ivens said: "I went back to California because jobs come and go - a family lasts a lifetime." Then she paused and quipped, "I probably should have just stayed with the show!" It's easy to see how similar she is to Simone in many ways. She has a tiny body and a huge personality. 

The show comes back on, and when Stuart calls Marian his "Queen of Hearts," loud "Aww's" permeate the air, and I notice a lot of women around me are already grabbing for their tissues. I must confess, I felt emotional too - though that might have been the mimosas I had during the VIP party. Truthfully, I haven't been a faithful viewer of AMC in years, but this final episode focused on all of the characters I used to love, and so it really affected me. When Brooke told Adam she used her inheritance from Phoebe to buy back his house, cheers erupted again. 

During the next commercial break, one of the hosts asked Jeffrey Carlson, "What is a zarf?" And Jeffrey informed us that a zarf is actually the cardboard ring that you put your Starbucks coffee in!  And those fancier zarfs are used to serve tea and coffee in other cultures. Interesting! 

The show is back on, and huge cheers erupt when David's maid enters! Talk about showing love for a minor character! More raucous cheering when Erica says: "For once in my life, I'm grateful to Brooke English." 

In the next commercial break, Jeffrey Carlson starts telling a story about Broadway Cares and how he screwed up a musical number in one of their benefit shows in New York, and as he was telling it, he accidentally let loose a huge "F-bomb" that had most of the crowd laughing. For those who may not know, Jeffrey has many Broadway credits and is a bonafide Shakespearian stalwart. He was also in the original cast of Boy George's musical, Taboo, on Broadway. 

Terri Ivens tells the crowd that she stole things from All My Children which would be auctioned off later. She's so funny that I can't tell when she is telling the truth or telling a joke! Chrishell then lets everyone know that at the Martin party on the final episode, all of the alcohol is real. Then the hosts give the actors a chance to plug upcoming projects. Terri Ivens is going to be in one of those Syfi channel movies, called Piranhaconda. It sounds really awful, but I might watch it now just because she has such a great personality. Next, Chrishell Stause announces that she has filmed an episode of Body of Proof with Dana Delaney.

All My Children returns, and when Tad makes his big speech, a lot of people around me are in tears. Then, when Adam proposes to Brooke, the loudest hoopla of the day takes place. But the most shocking moment, for me, is what happened when Jack dumped Erica Kane! I thought they were a very popular couple...but when Jack said,"Frankly, Erica, I don't give a damn," everyone loudly cheered! It seems that a huge number of people are happy to see Jack be rid of Erica! Maybe Prospect Park should take note of that? Maybe they can work around not having the Kane women?

After the episode everyone was a bit overwhelmed. Personally, I thought JR was going to try to shoot Marissa - but being drunk, he'd take aim at Bianca instead...at which point, Erica would jump in front of Bianca and be shot. I think the ambiguity of who got shot is a slight cop out, but totally understandable given the uncertainty of Prospect Park's casting, and the need for a true cliffhanger.

The actors talked a bit more, and this is where things got really interesting. Three of the actors had something to say about Prospect Park and wanted to get a message out to the fans. First, Gaskill spoke very positively about Prospect Park, and how this was going to be the best thing to happen to the soap opera genre and to the fans.  He said, "Frons won't be in the way!" He assured the fans that the show is going to be much better now, and that there will be a level of creative freedom never before seen in the genre. It seems pretty obvious to me that the actors and fans really are on the same page about ABC/Frons.