Re-view Legends revue at its new beach home

Saluting the stars in Myrtle Beach will restart Thursday, when Legends in Concert debuts its new home at Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach.

Tribute artists to the Blues Brothers, Michael Jackson, Jay Leno, Dolly Parton, Little Richard and Elvis Presley will take the stage the night of St. Patrick's Day. That concert will cap a more than $2 million project after Legends' move from Surfside Beach, S.C.

The new site's centralized location, and proximity to Broadway at the Beach's year-round allure, can help build the show's fan base and repeat business.

The new set in the former Club Kryptonite building is three-quarters "in the round" amid 600 seats. No seat is more than 50 feet from the stage, according to Legends technical director Bruce Bailey. The Surfside venue had two projection screens; there will be four at Broadway at the Beach, and the stage will be lit with LED lights.

Which tribute artists - impersonators - will stride into the enhanced limelight?

Elvis Presley and the Blues Brothers remain staples in this Legends lineup, which will undergo a roster shuffle four times a year, as always.

Victor Trevino Jr., ranked as one of the top five Elvis tribute artists in the world by Elvis Presley Enterprises, will debut in Myrtle Beach in a 1950s, rockabilly style. In the second lineup, he will don a circa-1968, black-leather look.

Eric Martin and Carmen Romano have spent 18 years - including 10 straight at Legends in Las Vegas - as the Bluzmen, playing Dan Aykroyd and the late John Belushi, respectively, as Elwood and Jake Blues. It's their first-ever Grand Strand gig.

Marcel Forestieri will replicate Jay Leno of "The Tonight Show." He'll be the master of ceremonies and deliver monologues.

The inaugural revue also includes Michael Jackson (portrayed by Michael Hall), Dolly Parton (Sandy Anderson) and Little Richard (Garry Moore).

And returning for a summer engagement: a tribute band. Last year, it was a Beatles act; this year brings an ABBA sound/look-alike.

The Legends opened in Surfside Beach in 1995, but it started a decade earlier in Las Vegas. It's now a corporation with year-round theaters in casinos there and one near Seattle, and in a theater in Branson, Mo. Limited engagements are offered at casinos in Connecticut, Atlantic City and Louisiana; a Legends in Concert trio is also aboard cruises of the Norwegian Epic.

The different tribute artists are rotated among the locations to freshen the audience pull. The bottom line is that the "Cher" or "Elvis" you see at the Beach has probably done big-league shifts at Legends' Harrah's show in Vegas. Observer Travel Editor John Bordsen contributed.

This story was originally published March 12, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Re-view Legends revue at its new beach home."