Apollo Theater
253 W. 125th Street,
New York,
NY
10027
253 W. 125th Street,
New York,
NY
10027
8 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 105 comments found
The date given for this photo is August 1953.
The Apollo shows up in Paramount Week ads as showing movies at least as early as 1919.
According to the NYTimes, black patrons were admitted into the balcony area starting in 1934, concurrent with some black headliners and the amateur nights.
I haven’t been able to find a source that gves the opening year as 1913. As you said, construction could have taken place in 1913 and the opening of the theater was in 1914. This is a Newsday story about the 75th year of Amateur Night.
Some history books use a date of 1913. There sometimes can be a variance between building and opening dates. Construction could have started in 1913, with an opening in 1914. “The Movie Lover’s Guide to New York” says “The Apollo was built in 1913 as Hurtig & Seamon’s New Theater, which presented burlesque and vaudeville to a Harlem that was then predominantly white.” I would debate the website’s claim that “African-Americans were not allowed in the audience.” I believe that they were admitted, but had to sit in a separate section of the balcony.
That’s true but the building was built in 1914 according to their website so it couldn’t have opened in 1913. “It all started in 1914 when the theater was constructed on 125th Street, the heart of Harlem. Originally, it was named Hurtig and Seamon’s New Burlesque Theatre and African-Americans were not allowed in the audience.”
The 75th birthday refers only to the 1934 launching of the Apollo’s stage show policy, not to the actual construction of the theatre, which was originally known as Hurtig & Seamon’s.
It’s rather poignant that the Apollo is celebrating 75 years with a grand restoration and (if you look closely at the photo) in the background is the marquee for the Victoria which is currently in limbo.
Happy 75th birthday to the Apollo Theater. The Apollo website gives the year that the theater was built as 1914. The introduction above should be updated.
Here is a nice recent interior photo.
After all those boring views of marquees and vertical signs, here’s a photo that really shows what it was like to attend a performance in the Apollo’s heyday. It was taken in 1944 during one of the always packed “Amateur Nights.” Note the clouds of tobacco smoke floating down from the balconies: View link
This is a small photo of the Apollo in 1963.
Here is a November 5, 2008 photo.
I thought that one day they would make the photo feature operate again. There are MANY really historic or famous theaters that don’t have a photo on the site!!
This is another recent photo of the Apollo.
With all the images of the Apollo floating around in cyberspace, it’s rather amusing that the CT introduction has a large, empty space marked “No Photo Available.”
Speaking of photos, I have been watching this site announcement ever since I became a member in Oct. 2003:
“Add Photo is offline
Due to the enormous number of photo submissions we’ve received at Cinema Treasures (over 3500 photos!), it has become necessary for us to completely overhaul our photo submission system.
“As a result, this feature is offline until we develop a more scalable system. If you have photos to submit to Cinema Treasures, please be patient. This feature will eventually return.
“The new systemâ€"which will offer expanded photo galleries, more browsing options, and other improvements— is worth the wait, but given the size of this website, we must develop this feature carefully.
“(Please do not email us asking when this feature will return. Whenever we have news about this feature, we’ll post it here first.)”
How long does this take? Really?
Please don’t post any photos of the Apollo for my sake, because I’ve probably seen them. But the best images are stored in my own memory (which is hardly “lost”). During the Apollo’s heyday, I attended many performances there, and saw such great stars as Dinah Washington, Eartha Kitt, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, “Moms” Mabley, Redd Foxx, Sarah Vaughan, and Count Basie and Duke Ellington with their orchestras.
The Ink Spots were at the Apollo Theater in January of 1953.
Really. Then lets see you post some.
This photo is for you.
YAWN!!! Anyone can find that photo— and many more like it— by simply doing a Google Images search.
Here is another exterior photo. View at your own risk.
The “100” number refers only to those who were vocal.
William, I didn’t write the caption. You should send your correction to The New York Times.
Warren, there more then “about 100 people” in that picture from the NY Times.