Christmas fun and more. Here’s our top 5, upcoming Grand Strand entertainment picks
With each passing year, it seems like there is more to do on the Grand Strand in the fall and winter seasons. Although visitor traffic has diminished, there is always something happening if you know where to look. Want to take in a Christmas show? We’ve got you covered throughout the next month. Prefer to see a play, enjoy a magician who also makes you laugh, soak up some down-home fine art or catch a rising country star? You’re in the right place.
Check out our top five entertainment picks for the week.
1. The Christmas Special
Where: The Carolina Opry Theater, 8901 N. Kings Hwy., Myrtle Beach
Contact: 843-913-4000 or www.thecarolinaopry.com
When: Fri. & Sat. 1 & 7 p.m. / Mon. 7 p.m. / Tue. 1 & 7 p.m. / Wed. 7 p.m. / Thur. 1 & 7 p.m.
Runs through Jan. 5.
Cost: $42.95 - $69.85
More info: Also called “The Christmas Show of the South,” the show is in 33rd season on the Grand Strand. Four main performers and special guests work in tandem with more than 35 musicians, singers and dancers, ensuring that this production is not short on spectacle.
Expect a shimmering night of music, comedy and dance – along with a breathtaking winter wonderland featuring dozens of Christmas trees, 75 wreaths, miles of tree lights, scads of ornaments and, of course, snow and a horse-drawn sleigh.
2. Gemini – Comedian/Magician/Ventriloquist
Where: Comedy Cabana, 9588 N. Kings Hwy., Myrtle Beach
Contact: 843-449-4242 or www.comedycabana.com
When: 7:30 & 9:30 p.m. Friday & Saturday [Arrive no later than 45 min. before showtime.]
Cost: $17.50 - $20.00
More info: Brooklyn’s own Gemini, aka John Lombardi, pulls together stage illusion, close-up magic, ventriloquism and dance into a comedic format for a show that is heavy on audience participation.
Gemini has appeared on NBC, Showtime and Comedy Central – and continues to work Las Vegas, Atlantic City and hundreds of comedy clubs in between – including Comedy Cabana in our own backyard.
3. A Tuna Christmas
Where: Atlantic Stage, Myrtle Beach Mall, 10177 N. Kings Hwy., Myrtle Beach
Contact: 877-287-8587 or www.atlanticstage.com
When: Fri., Sat., Thur. 7:30 p.m. / Sun. 3 p.m. (Includes AfterWords talkback with cast & director.)
Runs through Dec. 16.
Cost: $17.50 - $27.50
More info: The second installment in a series of four comedies set in the fictional town of Tuna, Texas, and notable because two men play the parts of the entire cast, “A Tuna Christmas” focuses on the town’s annual Christmas Yard Display Contest, won 14 times in a row by a woman named Vera Carp. Contestants are wary about a Christmas phantom who has been known to vandalize the displays.
Subplots abound in this tender, yet scorching, satire of Southern life and attitudes. Find out why The New York Times noted that “A Tuna Christmas” was “so funny it could make a raccoon laugh affectionately at Davy Crockett.”
4. Sherry Strickland Martin / Roots Run Deep
Where: Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum, 3100 S. Ocean Blvd., Myrtle Beach
Contact: 843-238-2510 or www.myrtlebeachartmuseum.org
When: Fri. & Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. / Sun. 1 – 4 p.m. / Tue. – Thur. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Runs through Dec. 16.
Cost: Free (donations encouraged)
More info: Horry County native Sherry Strickland Martin’s latest exhibition in watercolors and mixed media includes works that she said nurtures her soul: “That salt air, that plough mud and the sweet smell of oyster beds that line South Carolina’s beautiful coast.”
Martin, a visual arts teacher at St. James High School, incorporated a company that produces designs for a variety of products you may have seen at retailers like Stein Mart and Target. She has also done sports art for athletes in many sports at the professional and collegiate levels.
This exhibition marks a return to her roots, and those roots run deep indeed.
5. Brett Young – Here Tonight Tour
Where: House of Blues Myrtle Beach, Barefoot Landing, 4640 U.S. 17 South, North Myrtle Beach
Contact: 843-272-3000 or www.houseofblues.com/myrtlebeach
When: Saturday. Door 6:30 p.m./Show 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $39.50 - $70.00
More info: Inspired by the music of Gavin DeGraw, Young decided to return to music after a promising stint as a pitcher in high school and college baseball. Early on, he got a taste for performing when he covered for an absent band leader at a high school worship meeting.
Young independently released a handful of EPs and albums before moving from Southern California to Nashville. He was signed by Big Machine Label Group in 2015, and his 2017 debut studio album, Brett Young, debuted at number two on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.
This story was originally published November 29, 2018 at 3:58 PM.