South Carolina native Greg London boasts a jaw-dropping resume in the theater world. He was the founding artistic director of the Richmond Art Theatre and the Richmond Free Shakespeare Festival and served in artistic and operational directorships with many other performing arts organizations around the U.S. He has also directed numerous shows across the country. 

As an actor, London appeared in national and international tours and off-Broadway productions – in staples like “Hairspray,” “West Side Story,” “Fiddler on the Roof” and so many more – including a performance alongside actor Stacy Keach in Shakespeare’s “Richard III.” 

Closer to home, London was a professor of theatre at Coastal Carolina University for seven years and was artistic director for the now-defunct Palace Theatre in Myrtle Beach. He is also the founder and executive artistic director of Long Bay Theatre, a professional and community-focused theater company in Myrtle Beach – an enterprise he started at the Palace Theatre in 2007. 

“We did several shows at the Palace under the name Long Bay Theatre,” London says. “It was a partnership at first.” 

When London left the Palace, he says Long Bay went dormant for a time as he pursued some of the other opportunities mentioned above. During the pandemic, London started looking for performance spaces so that the company could be ready by the time folks were ready to attend shows. 

But then an idea hit him that he quickly refined. 

“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we had a drive-in movie theater during COVID?’ But then I thought there must be a way to do a show in a parking lot. People could stay in their cars and come to see a show safely.”

After some deliberation, the result was a production of “Godspell” in a parking lot at Broadway at the Beach. 

“We raised about $30,000 and built a giant outdoor stage,” he says, adding that the car idea was abandoned because of sight lines. “We painted barriers on the parking lot and put people in eight-foot zones. I hired actors from across the country who drove in – and we isolated. It was the widest-spread production of “Godspell” that’s ever been done,” he says. 

Long Bay Theatre has put on shows at spots like the now-shuttered OZ Nightlife at Broadway at the Beach, the former First Presbyterian Church building in downtown Myrtle Beach and currently the Dream House Theatre at the Myrtle Beach Mall.

“Dream House is a community theater that rents us their space,” he says.  

Being a professional theater, London hires local talent as well as from New York and regionally. Long Bay Theatre is also a 501(c)3 nonprofit.

“We have been very lucky,” he says. “A lot of people said we couldn’t do a small, professional theater in Myrtle Beach – but we have grown and grown. But whether you come to us or any of the other local organizations, go and support local theater and theater education. It puts more heart in our communities.”

To find out more about Long Bay Theatre, visit www.longbaytheatre.com