Disney's "The Lion King" ROARS into Atlanta's Fox Theatre!

Wow.  What more can be said besides, "WOW?"  ...and ALL CAPS at that.

By now, almost all of us have seen (or surely heard of) Disney's once most-successful animated feature, "The Lion King."  (The Lion King was recently toppled as Disney's most-successful animated film by the blockbuster Frozen.)

This stage adaptation of the famous movie has been going strong and shows no signs of slowing down as it approaches its 20-year Anniversary.  You may remember this little 15th Anniversary celebration on Good Morning America a few years ago.  It is, arguably, one of the most well-known and popular musical numbers from the show, "Circle of Life:"

Nothing stirs a Disney fan's heart more than the first uttering of song from Rafiki, where our primate friend calls out to the Prideland, summoning one and all to come and gather at Pride Rock for a presentation of the newest cub to the pride's royal family.  It has been said this first song creates such a rich African tapestry that it immediately transports us into the beauty and awesomeness of the African savannah.

I was more than blessed last night to receive media tickets for this event.  Lucky for me, the media tickets this go 'round (you never know where they might be located) where Orchestra level, left center.  As a true Disney and Lion King fan, I was elated when Brave PR handed me the ticket envelope and I opened it up to see the location.  I felt like Charlie when he had been given that last candy bar, and he slowly unwrapped it to see the golden ticket inside.

I quickly made my way to my seat and buckled in.  The last time I saw this performance was at Atlanta's Civic Center, and my family was high in the balcony.  All I could do was look down.  Tonight, I was going to be seated right in the middle of the action!

In case you are unfamiliar with The Lion King musical play, let me clue you in on a little secret -- the play begins from the BACK of house.  The animals make their way to the stage (Pride Rock) from the back of the theatre, down through the aisles, and up two sets of staircases to the Savannah -- elephants, wildebeests, birds, antelopes, and more.  It is a sight to behold.  Imagine hearing children and adults alike gasping, cheering, and clapping when they realized what was going on all around them. 

I said this last night, and I'll say it again now -- any play that is put on by Broadway ATL is top notch, but when you combine that with the level of quality that only Disney can provide - well, there is just too much musical magic for any one person.

As the play continued, it was all I expected it to be, and I could not have been happier.  I have heard about this play for years, and the Atlanta Fox Theatre production did not disappoint.  The Lion King is rich and abundant in African scenery, deep colors, and flavored music.  Music we have all listened to and loved for 20 years still sounds as fresh and as fun as it did in the 90s.  The theatrical production is a mirror image of the animated film, with a few more songs (written by Tim Rice and Elton John) added in.

The play runs two and a half hours long, with one 15-minute intermission, so make sure all bathroom breaks and concessions are secured before the show starts.  Also, the theatre has a 10-minute seating hold, so keep that in mind if you are running late.  You will not be permitted to enter the theatre until after the opening number since the cast and crew are actually making their way to the stage thru the house.

The actors and actresses in this play are nothing less than amazing - strong talent - from acting and singing to the puppetry arts (including two SUPERB younger talents - 10-year olds Jordan Hall as Simba and Nya Carter as Nala).

I was amazed at how many of the people around me shouted out, cheered, and gave standing ovations.  I love when adults, not just children, get wrapped up in Disney and the arts.

The Lion King will be having a long run here in Atlanta -- three weeks, playing now through April 27th.  The show plays Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 7:30PM, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00PM, and Sunday evenings at 6:30PM, as well as matinees on Saturday at 2:00PM and Sundays at 1:00PM.  (A special weekday matinee will take place on Thursday, April 17 at 2:00PM.) 

Tickets are available at the Fox Theatre Box Office (660 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, GA 30308), online at www.foxtheatre.org, or by calling 1-855-ATL-TIXX.  Orders for groups of twenty (20) or more may be placed by calling 404-881-2000.

I highly recommend you go see The Lion King while you have an opportunity.  It is always a special time for the arts in Atlanta when Disney comes to town.

I leave you with this "rousing" number by Scar (the villain of our show), just posted by The Lion King's facebook page, along a few astonishing facts.

Interesting facts about The Lion King:

• Ten times a day, all over the world, the cry in the African language of Zulu rings out in a darkened theater:  "Nants ingonyama bagithi baba!  Sithi uhhmm ingonyama!"  ("Here comes a lion, Father.  Oh yes, it's a lion.")
  
  
• The North American travel company travels in 18 trucks (14 are tractor-trailers that haul duplicates of everything)!
  
  
• Each city The Lion King travels to needs one week of set up before the show arrives and opens.
  
  
• The Lion King is the highest-grossing show in Broadway history!
  
  
• The Lion King still fills it's Broadway home to capacity, 17 years later!
  
  
• The Lion King uses six African native languages, and all companies include native South African performers (the Atlanta show has six).
  
  
• The original Broadway recording of The Lion King can be listened to for **FREE** on Spotify!

JumpinGoat Coffee Roasters - A Visit

Quite a while ago, I wrote about JumpinGoat coffee in Helen, Georgia.

Well, I am happy to report that over the summer my boys and I took a quick, overnight trip to Helen to sneak away from the doldrums of being at home for weeks on end.  On the way back home to Cumming, I thought I would search out JumpinGoat and visit their little business.

First of all, let me back up a bit...

In case you are not familiar with the quaint mountain village of Helen, let me familiarize you with it.  Helen, is a small mountain community nestled in the foothills of North Georgia's mountain range.  It has been built to resemble a small German Alpine village.  Those of us that live close often overlook it as a getaway, and that is shame because the town is cute and quaint and a pleasant getaway from the busy life of Atlanta.

The picture above shows the main drag or strip in Helen.  Nestled at the end of this strip is an IGA grocery store.  The store is very popular and sometimes hard to get into and navigate around.  It showcases a lot of "old-timey" food and beverage products, along with items native to the area.

One item I found showcased at IGA was JumpinGoat coffee.

IGA offered a wide range of flavors, all ready to be ground and sold by the bag.

So, long story short.  I ended up buying three different flavors!  I was excited to have found this coffee while in Helen, and in fact, I thought this was all I would find.

This brings me full circle, back to the beginning of my story.  On the way home, out of Helen, I was lucky enough to discover that JumpinGoat Coffee Roasters has it's own little store right outside of town!

Don't blink!  ..or you might miss JumpinGoat!  ...Here's a quick tip to find it - it's right next to Nora Mills and across the street from a large antique store.  All three buildings are old white clapboard antique home/business buildings.

Inside, as pictured above, the store is small and (again) quaint and quite lovely!  The store sells it's empty coffee bags (pretty popular these days for crafts), a myriad of coffee mugs, and of course - a LOT of coffee beans!  There were also a lot of gifts for the coffee lovers in your life.

After looking around at everything and drinking in the rich aroma of the shop, I purchased a cup of their famous coffee.  While waiting for my coffee, I have the priviledge of meeting and talking to the two wonderful women running the store for its owners -- Shelia and Savannah.  They were great.  They filled me in on the history of the area and the store and some of the events going on around town.  I had a great time meeting them and talking with them.  I even "met" their store mascot -- the (not so) JumpinGoat!

If you are ever in the North Georgia mountain community of Helen, make sure you stop in both the IGA and the JumpinGoat coffee house.  (The IGA offers coffee beans in flavors not offered at the coffee house). Grab yourself a cup of java, a bag full of delightful beans, and then stick around for a spell to chat with Shelia and Savannah!

It's a North Georgia tradition you won't want to pass by!

*****
A brief history of JumpinGoat (from their website):

Our story began during a lunch meeting between three business colleagues with well over 30 collective years dedicated to the food and fundraising industry. 

Our goal was to combine our unique skill sets to select a line of products we could manufacture, thereby insure the highest level of quality. With our past history and understanding of the industry, we began to design a business model that included the absolute best product offerings available, with our ongoing philosophy that our customers always come first.

After in depth research, we concluded our products would include the best 100% AA Coffee Beans and Luxury Leaf Teas in the world; and after searching diligently we successfully did just that!  We have since become Coffee Roasters that offer the highest quality single origin beans and flavored coffees found anywhere in the world. With the addition of the finest Luxury Loose Leaf Teas, including energy and wellness selections, we launched JumpinGoat Coffee Roasters. Enjoy the following myth of how we at “JumpinGoat Coffee Roasters” derived our name:

JumpinGoat Coffee Roasters derives its name from the legendary discovery of the coffee “cherry “by Kaldi, an Ethiopian goatherder. Kaldi, noticing that when his flock nibbled on the bright red berries of a certain bush they became more energetic (jumping goats), and chewed on the fruit himself. 

His exhilaration prompted him to bring the berries to a holy man in a nearby monastery. But the holy man disapproved of their use and threw them into a fire, from which an enticing aroma billowed. The roasted beans were quickly raked from the embers, ground up, and dissolved in hot water, yielding the world's first cup of coffee.

JumpinGoat Coffee in Helen, Georgia, Tweets Its Way to the Top!

*Picture and article courtesy PRWeb

From PRWeb:

Last Christmas Forrest Graves received an unexpected gift from his employer – two weeks’ notice. When life hands you a lemon, you can choose to make lemonade – Graves chose to make coffee instead.

After the initial shock, Graves and his wife Debbie, parents of two daughters, decided to fulfill their lifelong dream of opening a coffee roasting business in the small north Georgia town of Helen.  The couple had $600 in savings to get them started.

From that fragile beginning, Graves has built a multi-national business, selling a wide variety of coffee, roasted to order.

This Christmas, Graves and his company, JumpinGoat Coffee Roasters, were singled out by CNN as an examples of how an enterprising entrepreneur can succeed even in the worst recession in 50 years.

With businesses all over the country falling by the wayside and even coffee giants like Starbucks closing stores and laying off employees, how has JumpinGoat succeeded?

“Technology has been my friend,” says Graves. “We've had great success in terms of how technology has benefited our coffee business, namely Twitter, Facebook, and blogging.”

An on-line guest book at JumpinGoat’s retail outlet in Helen, Ga., enables Graves to tie back to his customers and maintain contact through Twitter and Facebook.  JumpinGoat has almost 3,000 followers on Twitter, 400+ Friends & Fans on Facebook, and several thousand on Linkedin.  Graves also has a blog on JumpinGoats website that he uses to educate his customers about coffee.

By using social media, Graves has created relationships with his customers, which keeps them coming back.

And of course, there is the gourmet coffee itself.  Graves and his wife spent years searching for the perfect cup of coffee before they realize that to find it, they would have to roast the beans themselves.  JumpinGoat features a wide-variety of 100% Arabica beans, including decaf and flavored varieties of coffee.

JumpinGoat has been a success story all around. The Graves now have a successful business and can always find the perfect cup of coffee.