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A CHANGE IS GONNA COME (Clockwise from top) In 2004, Takahiro hon
ors the venue's good-luck charm, the Tree of Hope, at the Amateur Night
Super Top Dog Finals; the revamped seats; the Tree of Hope, a stump dat
ing to around 1934 and which was once located at 131st St. and Seventh
Ave., known then as "The Boulevard of Dreams" because of its theaters;
the new marquee; Capone, who will host Amateur Night this Wednesday.
--------------------------------------------- -
I,,,,,,,
p • ~ • ~ • • ~ • • • • • ~ " ~ • Q • • • ~ • • ~ • • • ~ • • ~ • • • • • • • • • • • • • ~ • ~ ~ • • • ~ • •
hough the Empire State Building and the Statue of
Liberty come in just ahead of it, the .A:pollo Theater is
still one of New York City's most popular tourist sites
and a national landmark -so it's time Harlem's grand
shrine of rhythm and blues got an extreme makeover.
The perfonnance space reopens Wednes·
day after a summer hiatus with the return of
a 72-year-old tradition, Amateur Night
aUhe Apollo (now hosted by Capone),
a welcome by New York Congressman
Charles Rangel and a perfonnance by hip
hop. yiolinists -and previous Amateur
Night winners -Nuttin But Stringz.
The theater, built in 1914, was in need of
more than just a quick touchup, says tour
<14.' Ii,stor and longtime Apollo mainstay
Biil!YiMitchell.
''When people walk past, they see the
new marquee," says Mitchell, who began
working at the Apollo when he was a kid
running errands for starS like Redd Foxx,
Ray Charles and Moms Mabrey.
"Inside, the audience will see plasma
screens on the walls, a brand-new stage,
new seating and new stairs. We've taken
a beating from fans for the way the place
looked in the past. Now, when one comes
to the Apollo Theater, they say, 'My God,
look at this place.' "
[t's the latest step in a multiyear, top
to-bottom revamping of the Apollo,
where "Amateur Night" has reigned every
Wednesday since 1934. Certainly
e¥€lyone has noliced rhe new
marquee. But preBident an.d
CEO Janelle Procope sayS the
c f.Mes are the most signifi-
fSince the Apollo's doors
,~ e reopened in 1981 by
fl' 'I Sutton, the business
and one-time Manhattan
ugh presiden t.
,) . 'We replaced all the seats, [but] they're
still a replica of the original ones," says
Procope . 'We've completely redone the
stage, as well as our greenroom, which
will make it better for cocktail parties and
other pre-concert events."
Upcoming shows include Dionne War
wick's return to the Apollo on Sept. 21 af
ter many years, the solo debut of "Ameri
can Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino on Sept.
22 and Queen Latifah on Nov. 11. And
a new batch of shows for the syndicat-
ed series "Showtime at the Apollo" (which
launched in 1987) will tape at the end of
September.
Sometime in the next two years, the
theater will briefly shut down again for
more interior restoration . But even during
that work, the Apollo will forge ahead with
plans to raise money for an endowment
(it's a nonprofit organization), continue
the recently launched internship program
for high school students, and prepare for
its annual fund-raisers as well as a 75th
anniversary celebration that will last from
July 2009 through the end of 2010.
~
il:
~ z
~ " Q Despite all the ambi-
tious plans, it's impossible to
forget the history of the place.
"When they cut up the stage, I was in
tears," admits the 56-year-old Mitchell,
who tells stories about everything from
his grandparents seeing the debut of Ella
Fitzgerald to the night comedian Bill
Maher asked for the air conditioning to
be turned off and the crowd sweated and
drank and laughed like crazy.
"I was crying when they tore up that
floor - I know all the greats that have per
fonned on that stage," Mitchell says. "I had
the construction guys give me a piece of it.
I'm going to have it framed.
"The rest of it was thrown away. People
have come in and said, 'You could have put
that on eBay.' " •
REFLECTIONS Among the
thousands of performers
to shake, rattle and roll
on the Apollo's storied
stage are James Brown
(above), Diana Ross and
the Supremes (left) and
then-Little Stevie Wonder
(below). The Apollo back
in the day (1.1, advertising
a show by Otis Redding
and the Marvellettes,
among others, on its old
125th St. marquee.
~ ·It ;;
~
'"
~
U
~ c z
::;) en
E o u
vi
~
~
C1l
~ •
A CHANGE IS GONNA COME (Clockwise from top) In 2004, Takahiro hon
ors the venue's good-luck charm, the Tree of Hope, at the Amateur Night
Super Top Dog Finals; the revamped seats; the Tree of Hope, a stump dat
ing to around 1934 and which was once located at 131st St. and Seventh
Ave., known then as "The Boulevard of Dreams" because of its theaters;
the new marquee; Capone, who will host Amateur Night this Wednesday.
--------------------------------------------- -
I,,,,,,,
p • ~ • ~ • • ~ • • • • • ~ " ~ • Q • • • ~ • • ~ • • • ~ • • ~ • • • • • • • • • • • • • ~ • ~ ~ • • • ~ • •
hough the Empire State Building and the Statue of
Liberty come in just ahead of it, the .A:pollo Theater is
still one of New York City's most popular tourist sites
and a national landmark -so it's time Harlem's grand
shrine of rhythm and blues got an extreme makeover.
The perfonnance space reopens Wednes·
day after a summer hiatus with the return of
a 72-year-old tradition, Amateur Night
aUhe Apollo (now hosted by Capone),
a welcome by New York Congressman
Charles Rangel and a perfonnance by hip
hop. yiolinists -and previous Amateur
Night winners -Nuttin But Stringz.
The theater, built in 1914, was in need of
more than just a quick touchup, says tour
<14.' Ii,stor and longtime Apollo mainstay
Biil!YiMitchell.
''When people walk past, they see the
new marquee," says Mitchell, who began
working at the Apollo when he was a kid
running errands for starS like Redd Foxx,
Ray Charles and Moms Mabrey.
"Inside, the audience will see plasma
screens on the walls, a brand-new stage,
new seating and new stairs. We've taken
a beating from fans for the way the place
looked in the past. Now, when one comes
to the Apollo Theater, they say, 'My God,
look at this place.' "
[t's the latest step in a multiyear, top
to-bottom revamping of the Apollo,
where "Amateur Night" has reigned every
Wednesday since 1934. Certainly
e¥€lyone has noliced rhe new
marquee. But preBident an.d
CEO Janelle Procope sayS the
c f.Mes are the most signifi-
fSince the Apollo's doors
,~ e reopened in 1981 by
fl' 'I Sutton, the business
and one-time Manhattan
ugh presiden t.
,) . 'We replaced all the seats, [but] they're
still a replica of the original ones," says
Procope . 'We've completely redone the
stage, as well as our greenroom, which
will make it better for cocktail parties and
other pre-concert events."
Upcoming shows include Dionne War
wick's return to the Apollo on Sept. 21 af
ter many years, the solo debut of "Ameri
can Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino on Sept.
22 and Queen Latifah on Nov. 11. And
a new batch of shows for the syndicat-
ed series "Showtime at the Apollo" (which
launched in 1987) will tape at the end of
September.
Sometime in the next two years, the
theater will briefly shut down again for
more interior restoration . But even during
that work, the Apollo will forge ahead with
plans to raise money for an endowment
(it's a nonprofit organization), continue
the recently launched internship program
for high school students, and prepare for
its annual fund-raisers as well as a 75th
anniversary celebration that will last from
July 2009 through the end of 2010.
~
il:
~ z
~ " Q Despite all the ambi-
tious plans, it's impossible to
forget the history of the place.
"When they cut up the stage, I was in
tears," admits the 56-year-old Mitchell,
who tells stories about everything from
his grandparents seeing the debut of Ella
Fitzgerald to the night comedian Bill
Maher asked for the air conditioning to
be turned off and the crowd sweated and
drank and laughed like crazy.
"I was crying when they tore up that
floor - I know all the greats that have per
fonned on that stage," Mitchell says. "I had
the construction guys give me a piece of it.
I'm going to have it framed.
"The rest of it was thrown away. People
have come in and said, 'You could have put
that on eBay.' " •
REFLECTIONS Among the
thousands of performers
to shake, rattle and roll
on the Apollo's storied
stage are James Brown
(above), Diana Ross and
the Supremes (left) and
then-Little Stevie Wonder
(below). The Apollo back
in the day (1.1, advertising
a show by Otis Redding
and the Marvellettes,
among others, on its old
125th St. marquee.
~ ·It ;;
~
'"
~
U