The Apollo Theater (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use theater at 253 West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is a popular venue for Black American performers and is the home of the TV show Showtime at the Apollo. The theater, which has approximately 1,500 seats across three levels, was designed by George Keister with elements of the neoclassical style. The facade and interior of the theater are New York City designated landmarks and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The nonprofit Apollo Theater Foundation (ATF) operates the theater and a recording studio at the Apollo Theater, as well as two smaller auditoriums at the Victoria Theater.

The Apollo was developed by theatrical producers Jules Hurtig and Harry Seamon as a burlesque venue in 1913, and originally served only white patrons. In 1928, the Minsky brothers leased the theater for their own burlesque shows. Sydney Cohen acquired the theater in 1934, and it became a venue for black performers. Frank Schiffman and his family operated the theater from 1935 to 1976. A group of black businessmen briefly operated the theater from 1978 to 1979, and former Manhattan borough president Percy Sutton bought it at an auction in 1981. The Apollo reopened in 1985 following a major refurbishment that saw the construction of new recording studios. In September 1991, the New York State Urban Development Corporation bought the Apollo and assigned its operation to the ATF. Further renovations took place in the mid-2000s, and an expansion of the theater commenced in the 2020s.

Among the theater's longest-running events is Amateur Night at the Apollo, a weekly show where audiences judge the quality of novice performances. Many of the theater's most famous performers are inducted in the Apollo Legends Hall of Fame, and the theater has commissioned various works and hosted educational programs. Over the years, the theater has hosted many musical, dance, theatrical, and comedy acts, with several performers often featured on the same bill. In addition, the theater has hosted film screenings, recordings, and tapings, as well as non-performance events such as speeches, debates, and tributes. The Apollo has had a large impact on African-American culture and has been featured in multiple books and shows.

Site

The Apollo Theater is located at 253 West 125th Street, between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (Eighth Avenue), in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. The irregular land lot has frontage on both 125th Street to the south and 126th Street to the north. The site covers , with a frontage of on 125th Street and a depth of . The theater is adjacent to the Victoria Theater to the west.

Design

The theater was designed by George Keister with elements of the neoclassical style.

Facade

The theater's main facade is on the south, toward 125th Street, and is three stories high. The ground floor has been renovated several times and consists of a ticket office to the west and a storefront to the east. The modern design of the ground floor dates to a renovation completed in 2005. The eastern side of the ground floor contains a glass-and-steel storefront, A vertical sign with the name "Apollo" was erected near the western end of the facade in the 1940s. Although the interior underwent several modifications in the mid-20th century, many of the 1910s-era decorations remained intact in 1983. The theater's original decorative features were preserved during the mid-1980s renovation.

Lobby

The main lobby is a long and narrow space; some observers, including Jack Schiffman, have likened it to a bowling alley. The original main lobby had a group of murals. There was also a ticket office and box office on one wall of the lobby. The modern-day lobby has two staircases, which lead to the first and second balconies of the auditorium. , a cafe is planned to be built within the lobby; it is expected to open in 2025.

Auditorium

thumb|The auditorium as seen from the stageThe auditorium is at the north end of the building and is rectangular in plan, with curved walls, a domed ceiling, and two balcony levels over the orchestra level. The Apollo Theater was cited as having 2,000 seats in the 1930s and 1,700 seats in the 1970s; it was described in 1985 as having 1,500 or 1,550 seats. By the early 2010s, the theater had 1,536 seats. The seats were refurbished in the 1980s On each level, the seats are divided by two central aisles. As part of a 2024 renovation, the Apollo Theater Foundation planned to add 29 seats on the orchestra level.

The rear (western) end of the orchestra contains a standing rail with scagliola. On either side of the proscenium are two boxes each on the first and second balcony levels, which are accessed by their own staircases The ventilation system was rebuilt when the theater was renovated in the 1980s, and lighting trusses were added at that time.

Other spaces

In addition to the main auditorium, the ground floor had a store to the east of the lobby. There originally was a cafe and cabaret in the basement, In addition, there were a ladies' parlor and men's smoking room, which were enlarged in the 1940s. The second story originally had a dining room, while the third story had meeting rooms and lofts. By the 1980s, the second and third floors were being used as storage space and offices, with small rooms on both stories.

When the Apollo Theater was developed, the dressing rooms were placed in a separate annex with showers and baths.

A production studio for TV broadcasts and video productions was constructed on top of an adjacent wing during the 1980s. The studio is variously cited as covering , , It could record 24 tracks at once

History

In the late 19th century, Harlem was developed as a suburb of New York City and was inhabited largely by upper-middle-class whites. Black residents began moving to Harlem in the beginning of the 20th century with the development of row houses, apartments, and the city's first subway line. By the early 20th century the neighborhood had several vaudeville, burlesque, film, and legitimate theaters centered around 125th Street and Seventh Avenue, which led to the corridor being known as "Harlem's 42nd Street". Among the operators of these early theaters were theatrical producers Jules Hurtig and Harry Seamon, who leased the Harlem Music Hall at 209 West 125th Street in 1897. Hurtig and Seamon produced several shows starring black superstars Bert Williams and George Walker between 1898 and 1905. The Music Hall was converted to burlesque 1911. acquired land on 125th and 126th Street from the Cromwell estate and Lit family around 1911 or 1912. They announced plans in June 1912 for a three-story commercial structure at 253 to 259 West 125th Street, with a 2,500-seat burlesque theater in the rear, at 240 to 260 West 126th Street. Hurtig and Seamon, who had been leasing the nearby Harlem Music Hall, wanted a larger venue to accommodate the burlesque productions of the Columbia Amusement Company, which they had joined. or the Security Construction Company was hired as the general contractor.

A groundbreaking ceremony occurred in January 1913, at which point it was known as Hurtig & Seamon's New (Burlesque) Theater. Hurtig & Seamon initially employed female ushers, described by Variety magazine as "all good-looking and polite girls", and banned black patrons. Initially, the theater also hosted movies during the summer when burlesque was on hiatus, as well as other events such as benefits and fundraisers. A stock burlesque company composed of numerous Broadway performers was established at the theater in 1917.

Beginning in 1920, Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre faced competition from the nearby Mount Morris Theatre on 116th Street, which featured shows on the American wheel, a lower-tier Columbia subsidiary. The American wheel was dissolved in 1922 and the New Theatre retained its monopoly on Columbia burlesque in Upper Manhattan. The growth of Harlem's black population forced many theater owners to begin admitting black patrons in the 1920s, though Jamaican-American author Joel Augustus Rogers claimed that the New Theatre's black patrons were consistently given inferior seats. The New Theatre began sponsoring shows with mixed-race casts in the middle of that decade, and Hurtig & Seamon also planned to produce shows with all-black casts. The theater building was sold in August 1925 to the Benenson Realty Company, though Hurtig & Seamon continued to operate the theater. That year, the theater's orchestra was expanded, and a runway was introduced. As Columbia burlesque withered in 1926, Hurtig & Seamon elected to present stock burlesque in 1927, then, later that year, switched allegiance to the Mutual Burlesque Association. Hurtig & Seamon's New Theater was leased that May to the Minsky brothers and their partner, Joseph Weinstock, who had been staging burlesque shows in a small theater above the Harlem Opera House named the Apollo. Seamon, along with I. H. Herk, retained an interest in the New Theater. As part of the agreement, the New Theater was renamed Hurtig & Seamon's Apollo,

Hurtig & Seamon's Apollo reopened in August 1928 after the Minskys renovated the lobby, repainted the auditorium, and extended the runway at orchestra level. Variety magazine reported that Walter Reade had leased the new Apollo for years, but Billy Minsky bought out Seamon's lease the next month and continued to operate the theater. Initially, the theater still presented shows from the Mutual Circuit, which Herk headed. Performers typically mingled with audience members and performed for longer durations than under Hurtig & Seamon's tenure. but the theater continued to feature a mixture of stock shows and Mutual shows. Mutual began a decline precipitated by the Depression, and Billy Minsky announced in March 1930 that he would stop presenting Mutual shows. The following month, he started presenting stock shows with both black and white casts. Bessie Smith was among the earliest black entertainers to perform at the Apollo. For the 1931–1932 season, the theater hosted Columbia burlesque, with two shows per day. After Billy Minsky died in 1932, his younger brother Herbert took over the theater's operation. That same year, Herk, Herbert Minsky, and Weinstock agreed to showcase Columbia burlesque at the Apollo. Attendance decreased after the Apollo started presenting shows without nudity or stripteases. The theater briefly hosted performances from the Empire Wheel in late 1932, and the Apollo began to stage black vaudeville that year. After failing to renew its burlesque license, the Apollo closed temporarily that May and remained dark for seven months. The theater began hosting burlesque again in December 1933, with two midday shows in addition to the usual evening show.

Cohen and Schiffman operation

Sidney Cohen,