Harlem Opera House
211 W. 125th Street,
New York,
NY
10027
211 W. 125th Street,
New York,
NY
10027
1 person
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 32 of 32 comments found
does anyone know what is goin on in the space the harlem opera house operated in?
ifemorena
In those early days, The New York Times wasn’t as important as it is today and many theatres didn’t advertise in it. You should look in other newspapers of that time, especially ones that covered uptown Manhattan and Harlem. Perhaps the Amsterdam News was publishing then. I don’t know for sure.
I have searched the NEW YORK TIMES archives and have trouble finding ads for the HOH. I am specifically looking for ANYTHING on May 7 of 1908 and 1914. I have a print item from then, but can’t find it in the paper. I heard a rumor the theater name changed at some point and then back again (not the Appollo). Any help would be appreciated.
I have an original program from the Harlem Opera House from 1907, complete and in perfect condition, not for sale but thought somebody might like to see it. Also have a color program from Alhambra Theatre in harlem, 1907 in beautiful condition, not for sale but maybe somebody would like to see it.
A 1949 photograph of 125th Street can be seen here with the Harlem Opera House at center, and further down, the Loew’s Victoria, and next to that, the Apollo.
Warren, I found the item about Ella Fitzgeraldhere but I must have interpreted it incorrectly. She wasn’t discovered at the Opera House, but instead as a result of a contest she won there, won a week performing there in 1935. Thanks for pointing this out and for the other corrections on my description.
Some of the above is incorrect. Ella Fitzgerald was “discovered” at the Apollo Theatre, where she won the Amateur Night competition of November 21, 1934…In 1935, Frank Schiffman & Leo Brecher, who had been running the Harlem Opera House, took over the Apollo after the death of its owner, Sidney Cohen. To end the longtime competition between the two theatres, and also because the Apollo had more seats, Schiffman & Brecher kept its stage show policy and switched the Harlem Opera House to movies only. It remained a movie theatre until the 1950s, when it was converted into a bowling alley. The structure was demolished in 1969…The Harlem Opera House and the adjacent theatre that eventually became the Apollo had separate auditoriums behind an office building that fronted on 125th Street. Only the entrances and lobbies of the two theatres were in that building. During the short reign of Oscar Hammerstein, he used the future Apollo as a concert hall. The two theatres eventually fell under separate ownership, and competed with each other with vaudeville and stage plays until 1927, when the by then named Apollo switched to Minsky’s burlesque. In 1933, it was shut down by the police, and taken over by Sidney Cohen, who started the Apollo’s policy as a showcase for black performers in January, 1934.