The place
The complex and the Strand
The shopping and entertainment complex the theatre belongs to, the town named after a shrub, and the long arc of beach around it.
Choose your show night ↗Quick answer
The theatre sits inside a shopping and entertainment complex that opened in 1995 around a lake in the middle of Myrtle Beach, the main city of the Grand Strand, an arc of beach running from Little River to Winyah Bay.
The complex
The theatre belongs to a shopping and entertainment complex in Myrtle Beach owned and operated by the developer Burroughs & Chapin. The project was announced in 1993 and opened on 4 July 1995. Its shops, restaurants, attractions, nightlife and hotels are arranged around a lake and divided into themed districts, and one district has a copy of the Morris Island lighthouse rising from a bar. An observation wheel was added in 2018. In March 2021 it was announced that the theatre would move into a space that had been a nightclub.
A town named after a shrub
In Horry County, halfway along a long run of sand in north-eastern South Carolina, sits the resort city of Myrtle Beach. Before it had its name, the area was called New Town or Withers. Franklin Burroughs saw it as a resort; his sons finished a railroad to the shore and built the Seaside Inn, the first place to stay. His widow suggested naming the community after the southern wax myrtle that grew there in abundance, and the post office took the name Myrtle Beach soon afterwards.
The Grand Strand
The Grand Strand is an arc of beach land on the Atlantic coast of South Carolina, running from Little River to Winyah Bay through Horry and Georgetown counties. The name dates from newspaper columns of 1949 in the town's papers, one headed From the Grand Strand. Myrtle Beach is its main city, and the coast's hotels, golf courses and attractions make it popular with families. The Intracoastal Waterway has cut the city off from the continent since 1936, one reason building has hugged the shore.
Murrells Inlet
South of Myrtle Beach in Georgetown County, Murrells Inlet was once mainly a fishing village and has grown with the rest of the Grand Strand as a place for holidays and retirement. It is known for its MarshWalk, a boardwalk overlooking a salt marsh. Boats run from the inlet out to the ocean, and the dolphin-watch cruise that pairs well with a show night leaves from here, crossing the inlet and passing out through the jetties to look along the coast.
The Waccamaw River
Inland, the Waccamaw River runs roughly parallel to the coast from Lake Waccamaw in North Carolina down to Winyah Bay at Georgetown. Its upper course is a slow blackwater river bordered by wetlands; its lower course runs as a long tidal estuary only a few miles from the sea, lined by sandy banks and old plantation houses. Guided kayak trips paddle the river through the green banks, a quiet contrast with the lights of the complex in the evening.
The Waccamaw Neck
Where the lower Waccamaw River runs close to the coast, the long narrow strip of land between the river and the ocean is called the Waccamaw Neck. Before Europeans arrived, the Long Bay area around today's Grand Strand was home to the Waccamaw people, who used the river for travel and fished along the shore near Little River. Shell mounds and burial sites on Waties Island, the main barrier island along Long Bay, are evidence of their visits.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called Myrtle Beach?
The community was named after the southern wax myrtle, a shrub that grew there in abundance.
What is the Grand Strand?
An arc of beach on the South Carolina coast running from Little River to Winyah Bay, with Myrtle Beach as its main city.
Sources
- Broadway at the Beach, English Wikipedia, read for this page on 4 Nov 2026
- Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, English Wikipedia, read for this page on 4 Nov 2026
- Grand Strand, English Wikipedia, read for this page on 4 Nov 2026
- Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, English Wikipedia, read for this page on 4 Nov 2026