The Carolina Opry is where Myrtle Beach's theater industry began. The Visit Myrtle Beach documentary leads this page: Calvin Gilmore explains how he built the show in a town with millions of visitors but no family nighttime entertainment — and cast members, some here 25 years, describe a production that mixes music, comedy and dance. The theater's own history film adds the route: running since 1986, starting in the original building in Surfside Beach before moving to the Calvin Gilmore Theater on North Kings Highway — and becoming a family tradition, parents who were brought as kids now bringing their own.

The Story of Myrtle Beach’s Legendary Theaters | 40 Years of Entertainment

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

The Visit Myrtle Beach documentary on the Grand Strand's legendary theaters, led by the Carolina Opry story: Calvin Gilmore explains how he built the show in a town with millions of visitors but no family nighttime entertainment, and cast members — some here 25 years — describe a production that mixes music, comedy and dance. The film also visits the Alabama Theatre cast and glances at the wider theater scene Gilmore's success inspired.

Key takeaways
  • Calvin Gilmore founded the Carolina Opry after seeing 8 million visitors a year with no family evening show to attend
  • Performers like MC Brad Long and vocalist Tangina Church describe arriving as unknowns and staying for decades
  • The Opry's formula is a variety mix — singing, comedy and clogging/dance — pitched at every age in the audience

A Closer Look at The Carolina Opry Theater

The Carolina Opry

A closer look at the Carolina Opry through the people on its stage: dancers, singers and musicians talk about 30-year careers at the theater, growing up watching the show and then joining it, and signature moments like the shoulder-shimmying 'bird' dance move and an emotional 'Purple Rain' performance the night Prince died.

Key takeaways
  • Several cast members have spent around 30 years at the Opry — it became their career, not a stopover
  • Multiple performers grew up in the audience; one was told by family as a child that the Opry was where she'd be a star
  • Dancers describe their 'bird' move and feeding off the emotion they can see in the crowd

The History of The Carolina Opry Theater, Myrtle Beach's Original Live Variety Theater

The Carolina Opry

The history of the Carolina Opry Theater told by its longtime musicians and cast: the show has run since 1986, starting in the original building in Surfside Beach before moving to the Calvin Gilmore Theater, and has become a family tradition — parents who were brought as kids now bring their own children.

Key takeaways
  • The Carolina Opry has been running since 1986 and outlasted most Broadway runs
  • The show began in a smaller original building in Surfside Beach before the current theater
  • Cast members describe the company as a family whose camaraderie shows on stage

The people

The closer-look film works through the cast: dancers, singers and musicians with 30-year careers at the theater, signature moments like the shoulder-shimmying 'bird' dance, and an emotional 'Purple Rain' performed the night Prince died. The artist spotlight follows vocalist Christie Templeton — discovered singing as a girl, two years touring with Lee Greenwood, then a first Opry night on which Gilmore handed her a Dixie Chicks song she'd never rehearsed and sent her on stage. The behind-the-scenes film trades comic battles with the clogging team and tells the story of an audience member who thanked the cast for carrying her family through a year of cancer treatment.

The other show and the milestone

A short official clip covers Time Warp, the theater's rock-and-roll decades show on the same stage, and the 40th anniversary season promo closes the page: the production numbers and spectacle of the current season, forty years in.

Sources: the 7 videos on this page, from the Carolina Opry and Visit Myrtle Beach.

Christie Templeton Artist Spotlight

The Carolina Opry

Artist spotlight on Carolina Opry vocalist Christy Templeton: discovered singing as a girl, she auditioned for Lee Greenwood and toured with him for two years before her family's dream came true — a job at the Opry, where on her first night Calvin Gilmore handed her a Dixie Chicks song she'd never rehearsed and sent her on stage. She talks ballads, comedy bits and why the Opry's variety suits her.

Key takeaways
  • Templeton toured two years as a featured singer with Lee Greenwood before joining the Opry
  • Her first Opry night: Gilmore assigned her 'There's Your Trouble' on the spot and she learned it backstage
  • She performs both power ballads like 'I Will Always Love You' and comedy segments

Behind the Scenes at The Carolina Opry Theater

The Carolina Opry

Behind the scenes at the Carolina Opry with MC and vocalist Brad Long, who trades comic battles with the clogging team, sings the production's big 'This Is Me' circus-themed number, and tells the story of an audience member who thanked the cast for carrying her family through a year of cancer treatment — the moments that remind the performers what the show means to the people watching.

Key takeaways
  • Brad Long is the show's MC and a featured vocalist who spars on stage with the cloggers
  • The production includes a large Greatest Showman-style 'This Is Me' number
  • Cast members regularly hear from audience members whose hard years were eased by the show

Time Warp at The Carolina Opry, Myrtle Beach

Patty Moliterno

A short official clip from Time Warp, the Carolina Opry Theater's rock-and-roll decades show — watch-only performance footage from the same stage that hosts the Opry.

Watch: The Carolina Opry, guided

1 videos · summaries from the actual guides

The Carolina Opry Theater - 40th Anniversary Season

The Carolina Opry

The Carolina Opry Theater's official 40th anniversary season promo — a quick sizzle of the production numbers, cast and stage spectacle on N Kings Highway.

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