Friday, Oct. 30, 2009

Wildest Halloween ever?

Two calendar tie-ins have the production staff at Broadway at the Beach's Celebrity Square foaming at the mouth for this year's Halloween bash.

First, the costume-and-candy holiday falls on a Saturday, meaning patrons will be turning up in droves. Secondly, with Daylight Savings occurring at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning, the bars and clubs at Broadway will have an extra hour to stay open.

"I think with it falling on Saturday, and being able to turn the clocks back, we expect in excess of 3,000 people," said Craig Smith, the owner of three of the establishments in Celebrity Square. "We're banking on a very good night.

"In reference to the entire year, it's the second-best event after New Year's Eve. We anticipate a very, very good night, which is a night to carry us through November."

Broadway at the Beach will hold several events throughout the day for the young and old alike. It will start at 11 a.m. with the Holiday Harvest, which includes a number of family oriented events around the complex.

From a hay maze to face painting to pumpkin decorating, there will plenty of options for children throughout the daylight hours. Trick or treating, ghost stories, wine tastings and live entertainment will also be sprinkled in during the day.

It will all lead up to what is probably going to be the biggest event on the Grand Strand that evening -- the $5,000 adult Halloween costume contest in Celebrity Square.

At approximately 8 p.m., when the night's D.J. will take over, the square will begin to liven up. Unlike other costume contests, there is no official sign-up. Rather, judges will be walking the brick road and scouring from the balconies above, looking for the 30 best costumes among the expected crowd of 3,000 or so people.

At 10:30 p.m., that group of 30 will be narrowed down to five through crowd participation voting. About 30 minutes later, the finalists are cut to the top three -- again through crowd voting -- with the first-place costume winner taking home $2,500, second place $1,500 and third a cool grand.

Needless to say, run-of-the-mill vampire outfits aren't going to make the cut.

Teresa Skaff, the manager of four of Celebrity Square's clubs and another of the event's organizers, said the spectrum of costumes is as wide as people's imaginations.

"Once, there was a guy dressed up as a Transformer with all the metal," Skaff said. "A lot of people make homemade costumes. There were two people who looked like a jigsaw puzzle, and when they came together, they fit together. ... There was a guy who was carrying his head around on a plate."

Other notable costumes in the past have included a spot-on copy of Dale Earnhardt, Sr., the tricycle-riding doll from the "Saw" movies, the Geico caveman and a representation of the Verizon commercials with the lead actor being followed by a crew of people from his "network."

Last year, an 8-foot tall impersonation of Elvis Presley walked away with the top prize.

As for what to expect this year, Smith said he believes local politics could drive many of the ideas, given the lead-up to Tuesday's city and county elections have already been somewhat heated.

Skaff went another direction with her predictions, believing Michael Jackson imitators would be out in force after the pop icon died in June.

What won't happen, however, is a re-creation of Mardi Gras. While Celebrity Square was patterned after New Orleans' Bourbon Street, and the event caters to those 21 and up, it still has to be in accordance with Myrtle Beach ordinances.

"People [in the past] came out in body paint and they were sent home,"

Skaff said. "If you're inappropriately dressed, they're not going to let you out there. It's definitely not Mardi Gras. Broadway at the Beach won't let it be. It's for adults, but some adults don't want to see that."

Celebrity square will be packed with people, and most of them will not even have to enter one of the clubs or bars to get a drink or something to eat. Food vendors will including pizza, hot dogs and sandwiches, and there will be several beer tubs.

After a winner is crowned a little after 11 p.m., the clubs will then hope for the second half of the night. Anyone in costume is allowed into any of the establishments free of charge.

All of the clubs will have their 21 and up age limit in place.