How it all started.

The original cast of the Carolina Opry, second season.

In looking for a market in which to locate a live music variety show. After two years, he had settled on Myrtle Beach as his chosen market. In 1986 he found an acceptable location and facility in Surfside Beach, SC, on the southern end of the greater Myrtle Beach Grand Strand tourist mecca. In February renovations began to convert the premises into a 1,000- seat theater. Concurrent with renovations, a cast was hired, rehearsals began, and marketing infrastructure was put into place. The Carolina Opry show opened on May 2, 1986. Rapid Success

Rapid Success

The show quickly became a success, resulting in sold-out shows night after night. In its second year of existence, The Carolina Opry was named Most Outstanding Attraction, awarded at the South Carolina Governor’s Conference on Tourism and Travel. In response to the demand for seats, a second theater, The Dixie Jubilee which was similar in format, opened in North Myrtle Beach in September 1989. The new 1,000-seat theater, built to specifications, also rose quickly to the status of a sold-out venue. In 1990 Candock Recording Studio was opened, primarily for the purpose of in-house recording for both shows, but available to the public as well.

In 1991 the company began construction on a new theater for The Carolina Opry show. The 2,200-seat show palace occupied a prime location in Myrtle Beach, midway between the Surfside and North Myrtle Beach theaters, at the convergence of the highly trafficked Business 17 and By- Pass 17. The premiere performance was in June 1992. South Carolina Governor Carroll Campbell was on hand with a proclamation, as was the State’s director of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, who designated Gilmore as South Carolina’s Official Country Music Ambassador. In November of the same year Gilmore and The Carolina Opry were featured on the front page of the entertainment section of USA Today, along with a showcase photo. Capping off a stellar year, the company was awarded the coveted Governor’s Cup, South Carolina’s highest tourism award, for its standards of excellence, and its contribution to the state economy.

A third show, Southern Country Nights, was opened the same week, in the former Carolina Opry theater in Surfside Beach. Although all three shows followed a similar formula of music and comedy for all ages, each show had a unique character, and each developed its own following.

Spotlight Magazine, the in-house showbill of all of the Gilmore theaters, had proven to be a successful venture; using a formula of show editorial and ad sales, the books were offered free of charge to theater patrons. All three theater versions were sold out of advertising, creating an additional revenue stream. The company decided to offer to produce showbills for the booming Branson, Missouri show area. In competition with the venerable Playbill from New York, Spotlight won the contract, and for two years provided showbills to the top 13 theaters in Branson, including Tony Orlando, Andy Williams, Roy Clark, Bobby Vinton, and The Grand Palace.

A Vision for Expansion

Gilmore’s vision for the expansion of the company led him to seek a strategic alliance with a television network. In December 1993 Gilmore sold controlling interest (80%) of the company to The Family Channel Television Network. In 1994 the company established South Carolina’s first nationally televised series, Country Music Spotlight, which was taped in The Carolina Opry theater and televised nationwide on the Family Channel Television Network. A year later, a nationally televised special, Great American Music: A Salute to Fast Cars, was taped at The Carolina Opry theater, with hosts Tom Wopat and Denver Pyle, featuring Calvin Gilmore and the cast of The Carolina Opry, with appearances by Kirk Douglas and Sandra Bullock. Among race drivers who made appearances were Ted Musgrave, Richard Petty, and Rusty Wallace.

In September 1995 a fourth theater was built and live show launched, The Serenade Show, at the Charleston Music Hall in historic Charleston, SC. The theater, located on John Street, featured a lobby that was converted from the first passenger train station in America.

In 1997 the Family Channel Television Network was sold to Fox Television Network/Rupert Murdoch in a much publicized transaction, for a sum of $1.9 billion. Within a few months, Gilmore bought back virtually all of the assets of the company. The five-year period of public reporting and corporate board meetings was at an end, and Gilmore Entertainment celebrated being once more a private enterprise. The company was left debt free, and with a rock solid infrastructure with which to move forward.

Media Attention and Marketing Moves

Since that time, the company’s focus has been geared toward the flagship Carolina Opry theater, which continues to set the standard for live theatrical variety show production. The show has garnered attention from such far-flung media entities as NBC Nightly News, Hollywood Reporter, CNN, Variety, the New York Post, Southern Living Magazine, and a host of others. Calvin has appeared on The Home and Family Show, hosted by Cristina Ferrari from Los Angeles, on Crook and Chase, on the Pat Summerall Champions of Industry interview program, and on ABC’s World News Tonight, hosted by Peter Jennings. In a bold marketing move, Gilmore was
able to enlist Tom Bodett as the company spokesperson in 1993. The ads produced with Bodett aired extensively not only in the Myrtle Beach market, but also on WSM Radio 650, a powerful clear channel AM station which airs to 37 states and is carried coast-to-coast on the Sirius satellite network.

The Carolina Opry is widely recognized as a South Carolina institution, and is the only entertainment venue to be featured in a South Carolina state tourism video distributed to the national and international market.

Recent Expansion

In 2004, Gilmore responded to the times and population statistics, with a new product targeted for that segment of the population traditionally referred to as ‘Baby Boomers.’ The new show, Good Vibrations, features the music of the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. Presently showing on Friday nights in the Carolina Opry theater, the show will extend to two nights per week during the summer season. It has been very well received.

Also in the spring of 2004, the company made it’s first foray into the genre of tribute artists, with Tribute!, appearing on Main Street in North Myrtle Beach, SC. Featuring only the best of the best of tribute artists, the show has garnered critical acclaim, and has a loyal following. It will soon be available for investment in a limited public offering, with plans to expand to a number of additional markets. Gilmore is always looking to the future and has in the past exhibited an uncanny ability to make the right moves at the right time. He has developed a strong business team and a strong production team to support his ongoing vision.