Tonight was Amateur Night Finals at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. Wikipedia says that the Apollo Theatre is a music hall and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with African-American performers. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and was formerly the home of Showtime at the Apollo, a nationally syndicated television variety show consisting of new talent. There are precisely 1506 seats in the Apollo Theatre.
The theatre is located at 253 W. 125th Street (also called ‘Martin Luther King Jr Ave’), the ‘Main Street’ of Harlem. As you probably all know, Harlem is one of the United States' most historically significant African-American neighbourhoods.
Apollo Hall was founded in the mid-19th century by former Civil War General Edward Ferrero as a dance hall and ballroom. Upon the expiration of his lease in 1872, the building was converted to a theatre, which closed shortly before the turn of the 20th century.
In 1913 or 1914, a new building, designed by the architect George Keister, who also designed the First Baptist Church in the City of New York, opened at 253 West 125th Street. It was called 'Hurtig and Seamon's New (Burlesque) Theatre and practised a strict 'Whites Only' policy'. The theatre was operated by noted burlesque producers Jules Hurtig and Harry Seamon, who obtained a 30-year lease. It remained in operation until 1928, when Bill Minsky took over. The song "I May Be Wrong (But I Think You're Wonderful)" by Harry Sullivan and Harry Ruskin, written in 1929, became the theme song of the theatre. 
Throughout the 1920’s the so called ‘Harlem Renaissance’ was occurring leading to a great migration of blacks from the southern U.S. states to Harlem. These newcomers brought Jazz to the City and, although they were not allowed to attend the theatre as patrons, they flourished as performers there. Unfortunately, as a result of the Great Depression, the theatre fell into disrepair and closed once more in 1932. In 1933, it was purchased by Frank Schulman (owner of Harlem's Lafayette and Lincoln theatre's).
After lavish renovations the theatre re-opened as the Apollo on 26 January 1934. Schulman's intention was to us the venue to exclusively showcase black entertainers and he hired Clarence Robinson as in-house producer. He also introduced "Audition Night" (that was later called 'Amateur Night'), held every Monday evening. On 14 February 1934, the first major star to appear at the Apollo was jazz singer and Broadway star Adelaide Hall in Clarence Robinson's production entitled 'Chocolate Soldiers' featuring Sam Wooding's Orchestra.
The show ran for a limited engagement and was highly praised by the press and helped establish the Apollo as Harlem's premier theatre. Soon after this a benefit show appeared at the theatre entitled "Jazz a la Carte", featuring Ralph Cooper, Benny Carter and his orchestra, and "16 Gorgeous Hot Steppers", with all proceeds donated to the Harlem Children's Fresh Air Fund. Schulman's motivation for featuring ‘negro’ talent and entertainment was not only because the neighbourhood had become ‘negro’ over a long period of gradual migration, but also because ‘coloured’ entertainers were cheaper to hire, and Schulman could offer quality shows for reasonable rates. For many years, the Apollo was the only theatre in New York City to hire ‘black’ people.
The Apollo grew to prominence during the pre-World War II years. In 1934, it introduced its regular Amateur Night shows hosted by Ralph Cooper. Billing itself as a place "where stars are born and legends are made," the Apollo became famous for launching the careers of artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Gladys Knight & the Pips, The Jackson 5, Patti LaBelle, Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Ben E. King, Mariah Carey, The Isley Brothers, Lauryn Hill, Sarah Vaughan, Jazmine Sullivan, Ne-Yo, and Machine Gun Kelly.
The Apollo also featured the performances of old-time vaudeville favorites like Tim Moore, Stepin Fetchit, Moms Mabley, Dewey "Pigmeat" Markham, Clinton "Dusty" Fletcher, John "Spider Bruce" Mason, and Johnny Lee, as well as younger comics like Godfrey Cambridge. Vocalist Thelma Carpenter won the amateur night in 1938, returning several times later as a headliner and also for the 1993 NBC-TV special "Apollo Theatre Hall of Fame," an all-star tribute hosted by Bill Cosby.
Ella Fitzgerald made her ‘Amateur Night’ singing debut at 17 at the Apollo, on November 21, 1934. Ella had originally intended to go on stage and dance, but intimidated by the Edwards Sisters, a local dance duo, she opted to sing instead, in the style of Connee Boswell. She sang Hoagy Carmichael's "Judy" and "The Object of My Affection", a song recorded by the Boswell Sisters, and won the first prize of US$25.
Thirty years later, in 1964, Jimi Hendrix won the first place prize in the amateur musician contest at the Apollo. He also won $25. Then inflation began to kick in. Amateur Night marked its first tie on October 27, 2010, with guitarist Nathan Foley, 16, of Rockville, Maryland, and cellist and singer Ayanna Witter-Johnson, 25, a London, England, student at the Manhattan School of Music, sharing the $10,000 first prize.
One unique feature of the Apollo during Amateur Nights was (and still is) "the executioner," a man with a broom who would sweep performers off the stage if the highly vocal and opinionated audiences began to call for their removal.
In 1962, James Brown, who had first played the Apollo three years earlier with his group The Famous Flames, recorded his show at the theatre. The resulting album, Live at the Apollo, was a ground-breaking success, spending 66 weeks on the Billboard pop albums chart and peaking at #2. Brown went on to record three more albums and a television special (‘James Brown: Man to Man’) at the theatre, and helped popularize it as a venue for live recordings. Other performers who recorded albums at the Apollo include Clyde McPhatter, Marva Whitney, The Mighty Clouds of Joy, Robert Palmer, and B.B. King.
The club fell into decline in the 1960s and 1970s, and was converted into a movie theatre in 1975. But it was revived in 1983, when Inner City Broadcasting, a firm owned by former Manhattan Borough President Percy E. Sutton, purchased the building. It obtained federal, state, and city landmark status, and was fully reopened in 1985. The Little Rascals, produced by former actor Jimmy Hawkins, performed at a fiftieth anniversary show at the Apollo that year. The musical duo Hall & Oates, along with former Temptations Eddie Kendrick and David Ruffin played the grand reopening in 1985, which was released on an album that year. In 1991, the Apollo was purchased by the State of New York.
On December 15, 2005, Dmarjai Dearion launched the first phase of its refurbishment, costing an estimated $65 million. The first phase included the facade and the new light-emitting diode (LED) marquee. Attendees and speakers at the launch event included former US president Bill Clinton, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons.
The young talent on show the night Peter and I attended the theatre was amazing! It ranged from singers, to rappers, to drummers and performers. They came from as far away as Vietnam, Japan and South Korea. They were all cheered on and applauded at the end of their performances. The older performers however, were given the ‘usual treatment’ as the crowd here decides who stays and who gets swept off stage. The crowd tonight was ruthless but spot on the money when it came to deciding talent and no talent. As the sign outside the entrance clearly says, at Amateur Night you must either: ‘Be Good or Be Gone’.
After the show we walked along 125th to ‘Red Rooster’ the famous Harlem centre of ‘soul food’. It is renowned for its Southern Fried Chicken and its vast variety of waffles. Unfortunately it was now catering for the generally more affluent and ‘brave’ white folks and tourists so, as is usually the case with recognised tourist places, it failed to live up to its former reputation. The waiter was bored, the food was dry and the only chicken dish on the menu was like fried cardboard. Dining there was an interesting experience in a famous place but it lacked authentic quality. We went home disappointed.
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