Allison Frenzel, one half of the pair of lovely Celtic Ladies vocalists, may have been born and raised in the all-American Midwest, but the sweet soprano pays tribute to her Irish heritage each night in the Palace Theatre’s King Suite Showroom, where she performs The Magical Spirit of Ireland with the Incredible Irish Tenors and Spirit of the Dance dancers.

Q: What was your first brush with theatre?
A: I was in a production of  A Grand Night for Singing when I was 8 years old and loved being on stage so much that I begged my mom to do another one and it never stopped. I got into classes and became very involved with the community theater in Lincoln, Neb., doing over 30 shows before I even got to high school. Then, when I got to high school, I decided I was serious about performing as a career and decided to go to college for it. I attended University of Nebraska-Lincoln and majored in vocal performance, with a minor in American Sign Language. I’ve performed all over and have been very lucky to travel as much as I have with this career path. I have been a given a gift that I love to share and it is my honor and blessing to do it as a career.

Q: Tell me about your role in the show at the Palace? What can audiences expect from you each night?
A: The Magical Spirit of Ireland has featured the Incredible Irish Tenors for the past few years and, being friends of the boys, they asked Sarah and me to come join them for this year through Christmas at the Palace. They’ve toured the world and we toured with them back in the day. The absolutely sensational Spirit dancers do all kinds of Irish dancing. We sing some audience favorites, including Danny Boy, The Prayer, When Irish Eyes are Smiling, Skye Boat Song and many others.

Q: What’s your day-to-day schedule like—rehearsals, shows, etc.?
A: We do six shows a week of the Ireland show, but we all also rotate into the Palace’s newest show Hooray for Hollywood, a tribute to movies from the last 50 years. That also runs six times a week, so 12 shows in total. It’s a busy schedule!

Q: What may readers be interested in knowing about … behind the scenes?
A: Hmmm … interesting question. The dancers do this crazy thing that I could never do … After each Ireland show, they put their legs into the “shin bin,” a trash can full of icy water because they work their legs and feet so hard during the show, it helps them to relax and get their body ready for the next show. I couldn’t imagine—and they stay in there for 10 minutes! We all have a lot of fun backstage because we spend so much time together, that it’s easy to joke around and make our long days go by quickly. One time Sarah and I were laughing so hard backstage about something that we almost forgot to come on for one of our songs. We heard the intro playing over the monitor in the dressing room and had to run like the wind to get onstage in time.

Q: And what do you like to do here in Myrtle Beach off the stage?
A: My boyfriend Adam is one of the dancers in the show, so he and I are here together. We have an apartment with our mini-Schnauzer, Klause, so he keeps us busy with trips to the dog park. We also like to find new restaurants to go to—we both enjoy all kinds of food. I love The Market Common complex—it’s one of my favorite places to go for shopping and walks around the lake.

– Ashley Morris