Fifth Act: Myrtle Beach’s Long Bay Theatre celebrates its fifth anniversary in 2025

By: Ashley Daniels

Just as any stage production, the local Long Bay Theatre has also gone through several acts in its lifespan since artistic director Greg London first raised the curtain at the former Palace Theatre in Myrtle Beach in 2007.

Flash-forward to 2025, and Long Bay is celebrating its fifth anniversary … But there is more to the dramatic plot line between then and now, starting with the Palace Theatre shutting down thanks to Hurricane Matthew and continuing with the invasion of Covid in 2020 and an epic outdoor performance of “Godspell.”

“I was living in Atlanta, working at City Springs Theatre, and it was the first time in my 45 years in theater that I was completely booked as a director and an actor, and then Covid hit, which was when everybody started to shut down,” says London.

Stir-crazy, forced to stop doing what he loves, and longing for home, London moved back to Myrtle Beach and began planning on how to bring theatre back to life. That plan ultimately led to his social-distanced version of “Godspell.”

“I hired some actors from all over the country, got them to fly in, housed them separately, and rehearsed them 15 feet apart, which is crazy for a musical,” says London with a laugh. “We built a huge outdoor stage in the parking lot behind the old IMAX theatre at Broadway at the Beach, and we sectioned off the parking lot with temporary spray chalk, so everybody was in a zone when they showed up for their tickets and could sit with their family and friends to enjoy the show. That was really the rebirth of Long Bay Theatre.”

Today, the theatre calls the Dream House Theatre home inside the Myrtle Beach Mall, where they perform a full season of musicals and plays from August to May. 

“It’s just grown and grown, and the community support has grown,” says London. “And we now sell season subscriptions, we pay our cast as a professional nonprofit theater, and we now have 70 kids from Coastal who are theater majors for their first job in the theater.

“The great thing for me is that I started that program at Coastal as a professor in 2001 and now I get to circle back after being head of that program for seven years,” he continues. “It’s just a joy.”

London’s first brush with theatre was as a double major in painting and studio art, and music education. He also served as an orchestra teacher at a high school in North Carolina and joined the Army, where he taught as well, and directed across the country and abroad.

“I’ve always had a love for teaching and theater, obviously, so to be able to combine the things in a place where I’m around family and friends has been a long-term passion to get actors that I know and love in the community, whether it’s the Broadway community or local community to come here and do work with us,” he says. “It’s been a dream.”

Long Bay Theatre also performs kids’ shows, hosts a Shakespeare camp for kids (this year will be “Hamlet”), and will have an unforgettable fifth anniversary season starting in August with “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” and continuing with “Disaster!”, “It’s a Wonderful Life” over the holidays, Neil Simon’s “Laughter on the 23^rd Floor,” and concluding with the musical, “Sister Act.”

“Come and see us!” says London. “If you haven’t experienced it, come and see for yourself. We’re growing, and we hope that the audience will grow with us.”

For more information or tickets, visit Longbaytheatre.com.