They say ‘time flies when you’re having fun,’ which may be true, but time can both fly by and leave you fulfilled when your career is also your passion. From humble beginnings to great success, Calvin Gilmore, creator and visionary of the famed, award-winning Carolina Opry, celebrates 40 years on the Grand Strand, 1986-2026. This year Gilmore, 77, proudly celebrates this milestone with his family, cast, crew, and the millions of patrons who’ve attended his shows and who continue to attend night after night.

Some will fondly remember the Carolina Opry at its first location in Surfside Beach. The theater, which Gilmore opened May 2, 1986 after renovating an old nightclub, would later become Gilmore’s Southern Country Nights, then Legends in Concert, and finally (and currently) The King of Carts, a golf cart showroom.

Today’s Carolina Opry, the grande dame of Grand Strand theaters, sits proudly at the confluence of U.S. 17 Bypass and 17 Business in Myrtle Beach, lighting up the sky with its colossal marquee and call to showtime. Gilmore opened the 2,200-seat theater on May 28, 1992 out of necessity because of growing crowds and sold-out shows at the Dixie Jubilee, a North Myrtle Beach theater he opened and while still also in Surfside Beach. Later, Gilmore would expand his theater business model, partnering with The Family Channel, to open the Serenade Theater, now the beloved Charleston Music Hall on John Street in historic downtown Charleston.

“The theater boom in Myrtle Beach that followed is really my fault,” Gilmore says from his Pawleys Island home of 40-plus years. “Others saw our success and thought they could duplicate it. Whether they did or didn’t is not up to me to say. Everybody went nuts and overbuilt. Most of them (the theaters) are now churches.” The Gatlin Brothers, Ronnie Milsap, Mickey Gilley, and others all had their moments with namesake theaters.  Even The Palace Theater has moved into the Great Beyond and its footprint at Broadway at the Beach sits vacant, awaiting the next attraction.

The  ‘theater boom’ Gilmore referenced reflects a period of time from the 1980s to the early 2000s when Myrtle Beach was referred to by some as ‘Branson at the Beach.’ Branson, Missouri, which became well known as an Ozark Mountain theater destination starting in the 1960s, rode a wave of country music and nostalgia with Andy Williams, Red Foley, Roy Clark, The Gatlin Brothers, Mel Tillis and a dozen others all performing at their namesake theaters to large crowds.

Meanwhile, in Myrtle Beach, along U.S. Hwy 501, ‘Fantasy Harbour,’ had been home to the now defunct Waccamaw Pottery and later the ill-fated Hard Rock Park. Fantasy Harbour hosted the building of several full-scale, variety show theaters. Only the Medieval Times survived the Fantasy Harbour theater boom. Though a few other area theaters have thrived along the Grand Strand, it all started with Calvin Gilmore’s Carolina Opry. 

For Gilmore, getting away from the generational farm in Missouri to basically creating the vibrant Myrtle Beach entertainment scene, was his first trick.

“We farmed wheat, corn, you name it,” he recalls. “We had livestock, sheep, cattle, hogs, chicken. We hardly bought anything at the store. Mom made bread and churned butter. We didn’t have indoor plumbing. We weren’t Amish, we were just poor,” he chuckles. “We had a beautiful two-story farmhouse in Lebanon (Mo.) but we lived on the bare necessities.” 

As a young man in college, Gilmore spent a summer in North Carolina. He and a group of friends sold bible reference books door to door and at the end of that summer decided to visit Myrtle Beach.

“We couldn’t find a room to rent anywhere, so we threw our sleeping bags on what was the Dunes Club golf course. I would end up building the (current) theater right across the road from where I spent my first night in Myrtle Beach.”

After school, Gilmore’s travels took him to Nashville to pursue a recording and publishing contract, which eluded the young singer/songwriter. Back in Missouri, he found success in real estate, as a builder, developer and, while still a young man, a burgeoning entertainment entrepreneur. With Gilmore’s enduring love of music and after witnessing the transformative power of a ‘show’ and its ability to move people, he had the spark of an idea.

“I didn’t like touring, and I knew a lot of musicians didn’t like it, either, so I thought why not build a theater where people could come see you, and you could still be home in your own bed every night? I’d seen it work in Branson, and I thought ‘where do a lot of people congregate where this could work?”

“I knew I wanted to build a theater, and at the time I had a relationship with Porter Wagoner and thought I’d build a theater at Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. I remembered Myrtle Beach and remembered that they had no family entertainment, and I saw the potential, but I couldn’t quite find a place to make it work. Before I inked a deal with Porter, I thought I’d check to see if the little nightclub in Surfside Beach I knew about might still be for sale, and it was. My plans changed and we came to Myrtle Beach.”

“I’d never produced a show before,” says Gilmore, “but knew enough about the entertainment industry that I thought I could make it work. I had to refurbish the building, turn it into a theater, hire a cast, musicians and create the concept from nothing.”

The Midwesterner relocated his young family and set out to open what would become the first Carolina Opry. The concept was an immediate hit. Within a few years after consistently large and happy crowds, Gilmore set out to expand his theater business.

“We eventually had three theaters running along the Grand Strand before Broadway at the Beach was even thought of,” muses Gilmore. “Now I’m glad to be down to one. It was a lot of work.”

Gilmore’s artists, crew, and staff work overtime just before and during the Christmas season, but now, with Christmas just a fading memory, even one theater keeps Gilmore and his staff busy. During the year the theater hosts a regular season variety show. This year the new season begins on February 3. Patrons also enjoy Time Warp, a production focusing on the hits of the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, as well as a growing Performing Arts series featuring A-list artists including Amy Grant (Feb. 28), Clay Walker (March 14), Graham Nash (April 17) and Air Supply (April 24). 

The heart and soul of the Carolina Opry comes from its dedicated cast and crew presenting comedy, country, pop, R&B with a live band, dancers, elaborate costuming, exciting lighting effects, and a stage show that just doesn’t quit.

“I just love all our cast,” says Gilmore. “They’re the best of the best. Some of them have been with me a long time.”

Brad Long will continue a 15-year tradition with the Opry as emcee and lead vocalist and others have been with the show even longer, including the longest tenured cast member, Gary Brown, who’s been with the show since 1989.

After 40 years of shows behind them, what can visitors expect in 2026?

“Our best show ever,” answers Gilmore without hesitation. “Christmas music is my personal favorite, but part of what makes it so good is that it’s nostalgic and filled with classics that we know and love. We take the same approach to our regular season shows. We try our best to give our audience what they want, and man they let us know. They want and expect to hear the classics, but to also hear something new each year.”

The formula works. As featured in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and after cooperative national TV deals with The Family Channel and others, Gilmore knows a little something about putting on a good show. His son Jeffrey grew up in the business and has been the Opry’s director for many years. Daughter Jordan Watkins is the Opry’s marketing director. Calvin Gilmore, who will release a memoir in late 2026, is still very active in the business, and is planning for the future, but at this milestone anniversary is reflective of the past.

“It’s crazy that 40 years have gone by. I really can’t believe it. I have had the great blessing of being able to do what I love and make a living at it,” he notes. 

Here’s to at least 40 more!