CELEBRATING its fifth year, Simply Myrna returns on March 7 to The Courtleigh Auditorium in St Andrew. This was announced at the event’s press launch at the Four Seasons Hotel, St Andrew, recently.

“We will be having a different opening, some new material, and, of course, some new gowns,” Myrna Hague, the show’s headline act, told the Jamaica Observer.

AJ Brown, the Cari-Folk Singers with a guest performance by Dobby Dobson throughout the night, will join Hague. She also revealed that a tribute to the late John Holt, with whom she sung at last year’s staging, is part of the package.

“It was my first time ever performing with him and I take it as a gift given his passing,” she said.

“I’m very grateful for the people who keep coming, so I’ll keep showing up. I get to be myself. ” Hague added.

Lennon Crooks, Simply Myrna producer, said that he was caught out by the show’s popularity over its lifespan.

“We didn’t know it would be this successful when it originally started,” he explained.

He acknowledged that putting on the event has got more difficult given the climate, but said the show has a winning formula that just gets refined each year, rather than drastic changes.

“Myrna is the life of the show, and we have great support starting from our production crew to our sponsors,” he said.

— Rory Daley