Shows slow down, but not stop, for winter

Just because many of the local house theaters take a breather after two months of Christmas performances doesn’t mean a show won’t go on, even in the lull of winter before its midpoint on Feb. 2, Groundhog Day.

The Calvin Gilmore Theater, on the north end of Myrtle Beach, doesn’t have but a 3 1/2-week break since its final yuletide bow Jan. 2. That’s the first theater to start a new year of signature shows, with the 31st year of “The Carolina Opry” at 7 p.m. Jan. 27, and in its second season, “Time Warp” 7 p.m. Feb. 5, and with the first two performances this year of “Thunder and Light” with All That! at 7 p.m. Feb. 4 and 11. (Details at 843-913-4000, 800-843-6779 or www.thecarolinaopry.com)

Nearby on the city’s northern tip, Dolly Parton’s “Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show” starts its shows for 2016 at 6 p.m. Feb. 5 (843-497-9700, 800-433-4401 or piratesvoyage.com), and the gallantry and thrill of Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament, off U.S. 501, just west of Myrtle Beach, ride year round (843-236-4635, 800-436-4386 or www.medievaltimes.com/myrtlebeach.aspx).

Three theaters, though, pepper this season with some other productions.

Gatlin Brothers return to Alabama Theatre

The Alabama Theatre, at Barefoot Landing on North Myrtle Beach, has a quad of outings: “A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline,” a winter tradition starring Gail Bliss, at 7 p.m. Friday-Saturday; Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 22 in an annual benefit for the Pardue Family “Children in Need” Fund; Eddie Miles’ “A Salute to Elvis and Country Legends” farewell retirement concert, 7 p.m. Jan. 23 (See our “Monday Q&A” for Jan. 18); and a solo show by a regular in “One the Show,” Grant Turner with his “Ricky Mokel Comedy Show,” 7 p.m. Jan. 30.

Larry Gatlin, calling Jan. 7 from home in Tennessee – a week before the induction of him and younger brothers Steve and Rudy Gatlin in the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, in Fort Worth – treats every return to Myrtle Beach as an honor. He said the trio love giving benefit concerts here to help “a wonderful friend,” Claude Pardue, the president and chief executive of Mystical Golf in Myrtle Beach, teaming up with the Waccamaw Community Foundation.

Pardue stressed that “100 percent of proceeds” from this concert help more than 250 youngsters in need across the Carolinas and Georgia for outings and gifts they might not otherwise experience, such as going to Carowinds amusement park, monthly movies, bowling and miniature golf, Coastal Carolina University football games.

Gatlin said he and his siblings – members of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville since 1976 – continue sharing their love of harmonizing after 60 years, and that “it is work.” Yet, he was quick to quote the adage, stating, “the man who always loves his job is always on vacation.”

Patriotic and concerned about the United States being “under attack, and not just from black suits and machines,” Gatlin said “the world needs to hear” their single, “An American with a Remington,” which he co-wrote with Billy Dean. The Gatlins also continue inspirational initiatives with their latest CD, “The Gospel According to Gatlin,” released last year by Curb Records.

“When we come to town, we might sing 2-3 songs off the new album,” Gatlin said, also knowing fans want to hear from the catalog of hits, including “I Just Wish You Were Someone I Love,” “Houston (Means That I’m One Day Closer to You),” “Broken Lady” and “All the Gold in California.”

Grateful to see audiences turn up after all these years, as they do for The Oak Ridge Boys – “some of our oldest friends in the business” – and other traditional singers from “our generation,” Gatlin said still having careers with their voices, “we do not take it likely.”

He brought up the Gatlins’ Marine Corps father’s work ethic carried into oil fields, and how those instilled values remain the core of their having gotten their “hands on something” to deliver still on stage today, how they “suit up, tune up, and get out there and do it ... and do your job.”

‘Menopause the Musical’

Legends in Concert, which resumes its tribute shows at 8 p.m. Feb. 12 with a spring lineup through May 21, will welcome a touring production of “Menopause the Musical,” Jan. 20-24.

Jason Aiesi, Legends’ general manager locally, said outside of annual Elvis Ultimate Tribute Artist preliminary contests and the “Elvis Lives” national tour last January, “Menopause” marks another milestone for the theater in warming up its wintertime break.

He said the show by GFour Productions, making its first-ever Grand Strand stop, was chosen for this “typical time of the year when entertainment in Myrtle Beach experiences a lull.”

“We wanted to offer an entertainment option that would appeal to locals and snowbirds and had never toured the Myrtle Beach market before,” Aiesi said.

In this venue seating 600, Aiesi called this tour stop ideal for the “very intimate performance” surroundings for audiences at Legends the rest of the year, lending itself to improving even more the experience for “Menopause the Musical.”

“This comedic Broadway touring production,” Aiesi said, “was a perfect fit for our venue because of numerous factors, including how it does not require a band, and it offers fans a much more intimate setting than a larger theater or auditorium.”

Success of “Menopause” also could open more doors for other touring shows down the road.

“We are always exploring options for new entertainment,” Aiesi said, “to add to our venue that fit with the Legends in Concert brand.”

Tributes to colossal groups, at Palace

The Palace Theatre, an anchor at Broadway at the Beach, also has some extracurricular events this winter, amid the resumption Feb. 2 of “Hot Jersey Nights,” and premiere on March 8 of a new show, “Cirque Extreme.”

Fans of some of two colossal groups and members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, might want to cue up their memories and tastes up for music from the 1960s and 1970s with two tribute artist extravaganzas making a return for a second straight winter: “Beatlemania Now” on Feb. 19, and “Hotel California – A Salute to The Eagles,” March 4, both at 7 p.m.

Also, escape for some N.C. ‘Night Fever’

Speaking of remembering another of the most accomplished groups of all time: Anyone who never can get “Too Much Heaven” in loving the decades of music by brothers Barry Gibb, and the late fraternal twins Maurice and Robin Gibb, might want to commute to Brunswick County for “Night Fever – An Evening of the Bee Gees.” A lookalike tribute trio and band will crank tunes from long before and after “Saturday Night Fever” at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 21 in Brunswick Community College’s Odell Williamson Auditorium, off U.S. 17 in Supply, N.C. (910-755-7416, 800-754-1050, ext. 7416; or www.bccowa.com).

This story was originally published January 14, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Shows slow down, but not stop, for winter."