The history of New York City’s Apollo Theater in Harlem is given the full treatment.
Since 1934 the legendary Apollo Theater has always been a space where African Americans could showcase their talent when they couldn’t anywhere else. So many amazing performers got their start on that very stage and over the years it has become symbolic of hope, excellence, and a major part of Harlem history. This beautiful documentary takes you on a journey of how it all began and you get to not only see some of the most incredible performances of all time, but a peek at how talent was hired, evaluated and paid, plus the difficult transitions The Apollo Theater endured to remain open.
Entertainers such as Leslie Uggams, Billy Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Dinah Washington, Gladys Knight, Sammy Davis Junior, The Temptations, The Supremes and more, performed and worked extremely hard only to receive very little pay. It was revealed that Gladys Knight was only paid a mere $800 for 32 shows she performed. The owner also kept a diary of everything from money paid to specific notes about the talent and performances. Some of the notes stated things like “difficult to work with” or “pretty and behaves well.” One of the most memorable things about The Apollo is Amateur Night, created by Ralph Cooper. It became a sensation since it first aired in 1987. Talent from all over the world could come to the theater and showcase their singing, dancing and more to the whole world and The Apollo became known for its tough crowd that made many tough and resilient because of the experience many they later became superstars like Lauryn Hill who was booed by the crowd while onstage.
One of the important and beautiful parts of this documentary is also the coming together of a play based on a novel called “Between the World and Me,” written and narrated by Ta-Nehisi Coates which is a written letter to his teenage son about the realities of being a black male in the United States dealing with oppression and racism. I absolutely loved this documentary, the historical footage is incredible and the history of Harlem and The Apollo is told with such pride, it is so uplifting and inspiring.
“The Apollo” recently premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival
