Walking east from the 125th 8th Avenue Line station I can begin to make out the world- renowned marquee of the Apollo Theatre with the word “Apollo” spread vertically along the facade of the famed landmark. The Apollo Theatre is one of the oldest and culturally significant music halls in the United States. On that special occasion I was going to a rendition of wednesday “Amateur Night,” a longstanding tradition at the theatre whereby local talent come to grace the same stage where the likes of Elle Fitzgerald once performed on a regular basis.
Situated at 253 W. 125th St., the Apollo Theatre has been serving the largely African American neighborhood of Harlem since the mid 19th century. Originally founded as dancehall and ballroom by former Union General Edward Ferrero, the building changed ownership several times, until 1914, when it was converted into a burlesque theatre aptly named “Hurtig and Seamon’s New Burlesque Theatre.” In 1934, it again changed ownership into the hands of Sidney Cohen and Morris Sussman. The new ownership decided to change the format of the theatre completely, focusing on African-American influenced entertainment. The change reflected the demographic of the changing neighborhood, and cut costs because African-Americans were much cheaper to hire.
The Apollo Theatre become one of the centerpieces of the Harlem Renaissance; a cultural and artistic movement of African-American expression which spanned between the Great World Wars. The theatre ignited the careers of great African-American entertainers such as Billie Holiday, James Brown, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, The Jackson 5, and many more. The theatre became emblematic of African-American pride and heritage, developing into a vivid symbol of the rich culture African-Americans possessed throughout the twentieth century.
The Apollo Theatre fell into a general decline during the 1960s and 70s, becoming a movie theatre in 1975. Though, it began to witness a revival when Inner City Broadcasting bought and reopened the theatre in 1983. Since then the theatre has seen a steady resurgence in popularity, and once again sees itself as one of the great cultural institutions of African-American entertainment. By 1991, the theatre had been recognized in the National Register of Historic Places, and was bought by New York State. This is what brought me to the theatre last week as I pushed my seat back and prepared for an evening of entertainment.
Work Cited
“Apollo Theatre History”. http://www.apollotheater.org/about/history
“Apollo Theater”, Britannica Online Encyclopedia, 2009
“National Register Information System”. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007
Jackson, Kenneth T, editor, The Encyclopedia of New York City, Yale University Press, p.40
Overall, this is a good blog post. I think it would benefit greatly from more visual interest–photos you take of the Apollo today, photos from its past (you can find these on the NYPL’s digital gallery and through the Library of Congress) as well as perhaps even a clip or two of a show from the Apollo (I’m guessing at least some of the older stuff is available on Youtube.
Also, try to strive for a little more clarity here. Why were African Americans cheaper to hire? You need to specifically address racial discrimination. Similarly, I’m guessing that the Apollo suffered during the 1960s and 1970s as crime and economic decline affected NYC as a whole. That said, that same period was the heyday of R&B and soul, and many R&B and soul artists performed at the Apollo, as you say. So you need to make that part a little more coherent.
Can you focus this post a bit more on the Great Depression-Great Recession period? This reads more like a general history (which is fine up to a point), but it doesn’t quite fit the comparative framework of the website.
By the way, I’d greatly prefer for you to use non-encyclopedia sources, with the exception of the Encyclopedia of New York.
Hi Josh! As Professor Brooks mentioned, it would be nice to see a couple visuals of the Apollo Theatre (although you did a nice job of painting the grand image in my head at the beginning). Also, perhaps you can focus on how the Recession affected the economics of the theatre.
I liked how you talked about the role the Apollo Theatre played culturally. However, visuals would definitely help to make the post more engaging and interesting!