Athens Theatre: Beauty & the Beast

If you live in DeLand, you do not have to travel to Orlando to see a professional theater production. You just have to go downtown to the Athens Theatre!

Local Theater has been prominent in the DeLand community for countless years. Year after year, the whole community gets involved in Community Theater. From Craig Uppercue's Youth Theater to the Sands Theater professional productions, the people of DeLand have been there giving their  support by either being behind the scenes, on the stage, or in the audience as spectators there to cheer on their friends and family. In small town America, DeLand has proven to support the arts.


Many have been fully involved in the Dance & Fine Arts Preparatory Academy's spring production of Beauty & the Beast including one of our close friends at Personal Best Gym who has volunteered his precious time to be part of our production playing the role of Gaston. Butch McCowen, a former Mr. Florida, is playing the handsome villain who will do anything to get Belle's hand in marriage. Mr. McCowen has been a great sport learning all the dance steps required to be a part of our show. All of us at Dance & Fine Arts thank him for his support!

This is Dance & Fine Arts Preparatory Academy's first full theatre production as one of the up and coming dance schools in the local community. Performing an adaptation of Disney's animated film "Beauty & the Beast", this classic musical love story is filled with timeless music, memorable characters, and remarkable dancing. Come join us for an unforgettable weekend, June 16th & 17th, featuring dancers of all ages. *Athens DeLand*

Tickets are on sale now for our production of Beauty & the Beast and are selling quickly. Please visit the Athens website Athens DeLand to purchase your tickets. There is also a link on our website Dance & Fine Arts to buy tickets. Unfortunately, we will not be selling tickets at Dance & Fine Arts or at Personal Best Gym. All tickets must be purchased through the Athens Theatre. 

All of our dancers have worked very hard all spring to put on a spectacular performance. Now lets fill those seats to show our support!

On Mother’s Day

If you are in the central Florida area on Mother’s Day, there are other options than just going to church and lunch or doing a BBQ in your backyard.

               There are many other options on Disney property including Downtown Disney, the Beach& Yacht Club, or Disney’s Boardwalk. Some Additional options include some more of Disney’s hotels. As a child, we use to spend Mother’s Day with my mother and her mother, my grandmother, and we use to walk around the Grand Floridian Hotel lobby, have lunch on the premises and walk the gardens afterward. If we were feeling overly ambitious, we would walk to the Cinderella themed wedding chapel to watch the bride and groom leave in the white pumpkin carriage.

Photo taken from The Disney Food Blog

               Without spending a dime in a Disney theme park, you can have a nice afternoon at Disney on Mother’s Day and enjoy the beautiful atmosphere. Many of the Disney hotels are the perfect place to bring you mother because they are filled with pretty flowers and happy people. The whole idea behind the Disney brand is to take its visitors out of reality and into a fantasyland.

               The Grand Floridian Hotel will remind you of scene from Mary Poppins or Hello Dolly. Clean lines and white accents, this Victorian style resort is a refreshing blast from the past of simpler times. Disney says it best:

               “Disney'sGrand Floridian Resort & Spa is a Victorian-style Disney Deluxe                       Resort distinguishedas the flagship hotel of Walt Disney World Resort and offering world-class dining, entertainment and luxurious accommodations in shores of SevenSeas Lagoon.”

               The Grand Floridian Hotel has several great restaurants like Victoria & Albert's, Narcoossee's, Citricos, and many more. 1900 Park Fare has Disney characters, including those from Alice in Wonderland and Marry Poppins, come in for both breakfast and lunch if you are looking for a more kid-friendly environment. BE AWARE: The Grand Floridian Hotel is Walt Disney’s World premiere resort and the price tag matches the prestige. Most of the restaurants are $30 plus. The Grand Floridian Café and Gasparilla Grill & Games are less expensive, but they are similar to the other restaurants you can find in your neighborhood. 

               If you do not want to stop and have a full meal, you can have tea at the authentic English Tea room. After tea, there are options to rent paddle boats where you can sit and relax with your mom while paddling around near the shore. The spa is also a great option; however, it is currently closed due to renovations until the month of September of this year. Whatever you decide to do, this is a good alternative to your Mother’s Day plans without paying a hefty price for admission to one of Disney’s theme parks.    

Links used:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/grand-floridian-resort-and-spa/

http://travelwithkids.about.com/od/disneyworld/tp/Disney_World_vacations.htm

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2012/01/30/guest-review-grand-floridians-afternoon-tea-at-the-garden-view-lounge/

Business Plan

Taking advice from Bobby Flay and Steve Ells, judges on NBC's new show America's Next Great Restaurant, having a strong business concept is vitally important. The main concept of my business plan for my company, H. H. Horror, is to solely focus on the Halloween holiday. One of the strongest points that Ells made through his company is to focus on one thing and do it well.

Ells’ restaurant, Chipotle, focuses on burritos and they have some of the best burritos compared to the other Mexican oriented restaurants around. “For example, a bar-b-que jointneeds to remain focused on bar-b-que and not stray from the concept to grilledmeats.” It is important for consumers not to be confused on what is the purpose/product/service of your company.

Another important point to consider when starting a business is your logo. It needs to actually portray your product or service. Color and word combination needs to be clean, but it also needs to pop on digital and print marketing. Flay suggests that being too wordy with both your logo and company slogan will turn people off to what your company has to offer. It is a large market out there and your business needs to stand out.

Taking this into consideration and applying it to the nature of my company, I believe it is important to keep the image of horror, our company persona, nothing more than a shadowy figure.  With a Halloween focused business, it is important to illustrate to investors how your business will stand out compared to others and how consumers will remember you.

I believe the financial section of a business plan is the most important especially when taking into consideration the nature of my own business. I have to be able to prove to investors that a holiday oriented company can make enough profit within one season to support the company throughout the entire year.

Links used:

http://www.fastcompany.com/fast50_04/winners/ells.html

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/53/07celebrities_Bobby-Flay_LS13.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/02/americas-next-great-restaurant-winner-soul-daddy_n_856324.html

Food with Integrity

Have you ever walked into a Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. around noon? You may see a scene similar to this one.  Chipotle filled with hungry workers and college students on their lunch break.

Steve Ells founded the company in 1993 as a small Mexican grill in Denver, Colorado. After working in Stars restaurant in San Francisco, he decided to try out his own food visions. In 17 years, Chipotle has not only expanded to over 1,000 restaurants, but also has strived to make good tasting food that comes from responsibly raised livestock and grown produce.  Ells has made it one of his goals to change the way American food is grown and raised.

To have good tasting food, it needs to come from people who care about their product. The entire concept behind the Chipotle brand is to have good tasting food that is affordable and time convenient. Ells states to achieve these goals “[he] meet with ranchers and farmers dedicated to raising livestock and growing produce using responsible, respectful, and sustainable techniques.” Ells has become a large influencer on working with local farmers to produce better food.

This concept has flourished into our local area influencing “gastropubs” in the Winter Park and Downtown Orlando. They too only use the finest ingredients that are grown and raised responsibly in the local area. You can even see the similarities in design between these restaurants and Chipotle.  The Ravenous Pig. The Rusty Spoon. 

Steve Ells’ calls it “food with integrity” which is what was the foundation of the success of Chipotle. Chipotle serves more naturally raised meats than any other company and pushes for more improvements in the food industry. Ells speaks of the importance of leadership and keeping the integrity of your brand as two good ways to make a business plan into a successful business. Ells was appointed Chairman in 2005 and is the Co-Chief Officer. He is also the largest share-holder of the company.

Links used:

http://people.forbes.com/profile/steve-ells/19160

http://www.chipotle.com/en-us/chipotle_story/steves_story/steves_story.aspx

http://www.rd.com/money/dreamers-chipotle-founder-steve-ells/

http://bpexpertviews.blogspot.com/