Talent Draws Tourism To Make The Season Bright

The curtain is down, and ushers are helping people to their seats. Backstage, excitement and anticipation is thick as dancers and singers put on the finishing touches – doing their hair and makeup, stretching so far to the floor it looks impossible, and staging their clothes in little alcoves for quick changes.

It’s Christmas show season at Grand Strand theaters – their busiest, and arguably brightest, time of year.

“It’s mayhem back here,” said Denise Tichenor Davis, a featured singer in the Alabama Theater’s “The South’s Grandest Christmas Show.”

Denise Tichenor Davis belts out a Christmas tune at The Alabama Theater.

“Dancers have to change and get right back out here. Zippers break on costumes almost every day,” Davis said. “We just come out here like nothing has happened.”

Being a performer is not for the faint of heart. Once the curtain goes up, there’s no going back.

“If someone is out, we have to re-block the show quickly,” said Davis. That means all the performers have to hit different marks on the stage, and they have to remember all the changes just hours before a show. It also means lighting directors have to remember the adjustments.

And it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been at it. It takes time, skill and the ability to handle a little bit of mayhem.

Jordan Gilmore Watkins, The Carolina Opry Marketing Director.

“This is our 39^th season,” said Jordan Gilmore Watkins, marketing director at The Carolina Opry. “We had the first theater in the market. It opened in 1986 in Surfside Beach. After we built this theater (in Myrtle Beach), we got Dolly on board and now it’s a family tradition.”

Yes, that’s the famous Dolly Parton to whom she’s referring. Dolly Parton’s Pirates Voyage show runs in the theater next door, on the same property as The Carolina Opry. As for the Opry’s “The Christmas Show of the South,” according to Watkins, “The show in the second week will be different than the show the first week. My dad and my brother (the show’s directors) are here every day tweaking the show.”

Finding talent that can keep up with all that is no easy task. It also helps if you’re easy to get along with. Many of the people who end up calling these stages home audition after being recommended by former colleagues.

“The former comedian here really cared about this show, and he wanted to pass it down to someone he trusted,” said Max Winfrey, who has taken on that role at the Alabama Theater. Winfrey entertains the crowd between set or major costume changes. He spent his whole life in the entertainment business, including at theme parks, on cruises and now in theaters.

Max Winfrey, record-breaking ax juggler, gets the audience involved in his stunts.

“I get to look at all the places I’ve been – Hawaii, Alaska, France. It would be really expensive to travel to all of those places,” he said. “I have an amazing job.”

Amazing, but it can be lonely as well. Performers like Winfrey do a lot of living out of hotel rooms or short-term rental condos. Performers must also make sure they have their next gig booked, chart royalties and build a brand. There isn’t anyone to fall back on but themselves.

And theaters like these aren’t as prevalent as they used to be. They can be good places for performers to call home, for at least a while, so they can work on a show for months in one place instead of bouncing around to different cities or countries. The theater has been quite a different experience for someone like Winfrey, who was featured on America’s Got Talent and has the record for ax juggling at 163 catches.

Talent abides as most performers play more than one role, whether it’s dancing, singing, playing an instrument, or even working in the front office.

“This is the first time in a long time I’ve been part of a team. Here, there is a kind of family atmosphere,” Winfrey said. “Show biz is full of egos. But here they’re like, ‘How can I help?’ It’s really a fun and uplifting experience rather than just being a hired hand.”

That family atmosphere was apparent with birthday decorations covering mirrors in the close quarters where performers prep for the show. They are together nearly every day for months and rely on each other to make the shows come to life. They celebrate each other through personal life moments. They don’t have a choice but to depend on each other, and that’s what makes the magic happen.

“It’s such a fun job. Most of us are very happy to do what we do. We love it,” Davis said.

So do the audiences, as proven by a packed crowd on a Tuesday afternoon before Thanksgiving at The Carolina Opry.

A Tuesday afternoon at The Carolina Opry.

“My dad put our area on the map, and the Carolina Opry brings hundreds of thousands of visitors to Myrtle Beach each year. When he opened the theater in 1986, he planned to try one weekend of Christmas shows. The shows sold out, and they kept adding shows. The original weekend ended up being two sold-out weeks,” said Watkins. “As people began to come from all over the region to see the seasonal show, hotels began offering deals, restaurants started opening during those weeks, and a new Christmas industry was born in the Myrtle Beach area, thanks to Calvin Gilmore.

“During the Christmas season alone, we entertain over 100,000 people, many of whom travel here in the off-season for the sole purpose of seeing The Carolina Opry Christmas Special.”

These days, there is no shortage of holiday happenings along the Grand Strand, from light shows to tree lightings and holiday fairs. It all started when the curtain came up to unveil the extreme talents of those brave enough to take the stage.

“We draw huge crowds and provide the best in entertainment along the Grand Strand,” said Adam Gullidge, marketing and public relations director at the Alabama Theater and semi-retired performer. He tears up the stage in this year’s Christmas show.

“I work full time, and I get a little cardio in,” he told us.

He, and the rest of the performers, bring smiles to thousands of people each the holiday season.