Doors Open
Show Starts
7:00 PM EDT
Ages
Where
Soundstage at the Apollo
Event Date
April 22, 2022
Event Time
7:00 PM EDT
Awards Presentation & Concert
Dinner & Dancing
Location
Soundstage at the Apollo
Buy Tickets
Download Program Booklet
Friday, April 22, 2022
How did the artists of the Harlem Renaissance respond to the historic events that shaped their time? And how are contemporary creatives dealing with the issues of the present moment in their own work? These questions lie at the heart of the Apollo commission of the New Black Fest, which has engaged 18 contemporary playwrights to explore these themes in 10-minute plays.
Over the course of three staged readings, each playwright will premiere their new work, dramatically performed by an exciting cast of actors and readers. Participating playwrights include James Ijames, Eric Micha Holmes, Dahlak Brathwaite, Donja Love, Dennis A. Allen II, Christina Anderson, and Mfoniso Udofia. This event will be taking place on the Apollo’s Soundstage.
Please note that each reading features different playwrights.
Part of Apollo New Works, the Apollo’s first major commissioning initiative launched in 2020.
Leadership support for the Apollo New Works initiative is provided by the Ford Foundation. The New Black Fest is funded by the HBO Fund for Theater, The Black Seed, and is also supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Commissioning support for The New Black Fest is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts.
Ticket Information
Please contact the Apollo Box office at [email protected] or (212) 531-5305 if any other special assistance is required for your visit.
Additional Readings
New Black Fest: The Harlem Renaissance Then & Now
Date: April 23 at 3 PM
Robyne Walker-Murphy explores the impact and transformative power of Black artists of the past and today with contemporary artists, Zora Howard (award winning playwright and screenwriter) and Carl Hancock Rux (multidisciplinary artist and Associate Director of Harlem Stage).
Covid-19 Guidelines
For the safety of our audiences and staff, all ticketholders and attendees of this event must provide proof of vaccination in order to enter the theater. In addition, all attendees are required to wear face coverings while inside the theater. Click here for more information about our COVID safety policies.
Friday Readings Schedule
Directed by Cezar Williams Pumpkin and Juju by Liza Jessie Peterson
Color Theory by Eric Micha Holmes
Savage Art by Kareem Lucas
Directed by Goldie Patrick Untitled by Lisa Rosetta Strum
Being Light by Mfoniso Udofia
Goddess Help Us by Christina Anderson
Playwrights
Liza Jessie Peterson
Liza Jessie Peterson
Liza is an artivist; an actress, playwright, poet, author and youth advocate who has been steadfast in her commitment to incarcerated populations both professionally and artistically for over two decades. Her critically acclaimed one woman show, The Peculiar Patriot, was nominated for a Drama Desk Award and an Audelco and was featured at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. The play is now available on Audible. There is currently a documentary, Peculiar Silence, about her historic performance of The Peculiar Patriot at Louisiana State Penitentiary (aka Angola) where she performed the play in front of 700 inmates and was live streamed throughout the entire prison. During the early years of this play’s uncanny trajectory, Liza performed The Peculiar Patriot in 35 prisons across the country in a self-funded prison tour spanning the course of four years.
Liza is author of a memoir, ALL DAY; A Year of Love and Survival Teaching Incarcerated Kids at Rikers Island (Hachette publishing) and was recently commissioned by The Old Globe Theater to adapt the book into a stage play. Liza was featured in Ava DuVernay’s Emmy award winning documentary, The 13th, and was a consultant on Bill Moyers documentary Rikers (PBS).
In addition to The Peculiar Patriot Liza has written several other plays which received development support from The Lark, Syracuse Stage, The McCarter Theater, Manhattan Theater Club, New York Theater Workshop, New Black Fest, The Apollo and The Atlantic Theater. Her play, SistahGurls and the Squirrel, is in development for a stage production and is being adapted for television. Also known for her exceptional poetic skills, Liza began her poetry career at the Nuyorican Poets Café and was a vital member of the enclave of notable poets that inspired Russell Simmons to bring spoken word to HBO where Liza appeared on two episodes of Def Poetry.
As an actress Liza will appear in a new Showtime mini-series by Sacha Jenkins, (Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men, Bitchin’: The Sound and Fury of Rick James). She can be seen in A Luv Tale (BETplus), Love the Hard Way (co-starring with Pam Grier and Adrien Brody) Spike Lee’s Bamboozled, K. Shalini’s A Drop of Life and Jamie Catto’s What About Me. Liza wrote and starred in two short films, MERLINA (www.merlinaproject.com) and Black Love Manifesto, which premiered at Urban World Film Festival.
Eric Micha Holmes
Eric Micha Holmes
Eric Micha Holmes is a playwright and audio-dramatist whose work has been heard on Audible (“Rapture Season”), the BBC (“Care Inc.”), and seen at The National Black Theatre (“Mondo Tragic,”) The New Black Fest (“Pornplay; or, Blessèd Are The Meek”), New York Theatre Workshop (“Nimpsey Pink”), and Guild Hall (“Falls For Jodie”). Residencies and fellowships include Djerassi Artist Residency, The Dramatist Guild Fellowship, Space At Ryder Farm, ‘I Am Soul’ Playwright’s Residency at The National Black Theatre, The Actor’s Studio Playwright/Director Unit, and more.
“Walking Next To Michael Brown: Confessions Of A Tragic Mulatto,” was commissioned by The New Black Fest and has toured with Kennedy Center’s Civic Artist Award winning “Hands Up: 7 Playwrights / 7 Testaments” to theaters across the country including: The Alliance Theatre, The Brooklyn Museum Of Art, Red Door Theatre, Crowded Fire Theatre, The Museum Of The Moving Image, The Hansberry Project, and Flashpoint Theatre (world premier).
Kareem M. Lucas
Kareem M. Lucas
KAREEM M. LUCAS is a Brooklyn born and Harlem based Actor/Writer/Producer/Director. His solo pieces include “The Maturation of an Inconvenient Negro (or iNEGRO)”, “Black Is Beautiful, But It Ain’t Always Pretty”, “RATED BLACK: An American Requiem”, “From Brooklyn With Love”, “A Boy & His Bow”, and “A Warm Winter”. He’s performed his work at The Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, American Repertory Theater, The Greene Space, Aaron Davis Hall at City College, The Town Hall, The Fire This Time Festival, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, HERE Arts Center, Hi-ARTS, JACK, IRT Theater, The Brick Theater, Teatro Circulo, Judson Arts Wednesdays, AFO Theater, The Slipper Room, among others. He’s an inaugural Jerome Hill Artist Fellow and a Usual Suspect at NYTW, and a teaching artist with the Classical Theatre of Harlem and The 52nd Street Project. MFA: NYU Graduate Acting Program.
Lisa Strum
Lisa Strum
Lisa Strum is a director, actress, playwright, singer and wedding officiant! Most recently, the virtual film production of BALTIMORE that she directed for Ramapo College won FIVE Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Awards. She was also one of the directors for “All Hands On Deck”, a Virtual Series with Project Y Theatre Company and will premiere her short new play, “An Actor Prepares” for the festival this year. As Resident Theatre Director at Five Towns College, she directed Flyin’ West, For Colored Girls… and SWEAT (Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Award Winning Productions). Lisa also directed FALL by France-Luce Benson for the 2019 One Act Play Festival with Ensemble Studio Theatre. She starred as Rose in FENCES with the REP and Virginia REP. She also starred in the Michigan Premiere of PIPELINE at Detroit Public Theatre, and SWEAT at People’s Light. Her solo play, She Gon’ Learn had sold out performances at the United Solo Festival on Theatre Row, and received one of the festival’s Best Solo Show Awards. The show was also featured with The New Black Fest at the Lark. As an actor, Lisa worked at Lincoln Center Theatre with Tony Award winning director Thomas Kail, appeared at Summer Stage, Signature Theatre, New Federal Theatre and The Obie Award Winning 48 Hours in… Harlem. Lisa also had a recurring role on Law & Order: SVU, co-stared on New Amsterdam, The Blacklist, and the television pilot Citizen Baines with James Cromwell. As an arts in education theatre instructor, Lisa is a staff facilitator at Columbia University for The Literacy Unbound Summer Institute and was the Theatre Specialist for the Abrons Arts Center at Henry Street Settlement for nine seasons. Lisa was a Finalist for the Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award and the recipient of the Playwrights Fellowship at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program. She was nominated for a New York Innovative Theatre Award for Best Outstanding Actress, and received a Broadway World Award for Best actress for the Regional production of FENCES. This year, Lisa will direct BLKS by Aziza Barnes at the University of Iowa, and will premiere her short new play, By the Way… with the Obie Award Winning Fire This Time Festival.
Mfoniso Udofia
Mfoniso Udofia
Mfoniso Udofia, a first-generation Nigerian-American storyteller and educator, attended Wellesley College, obtained her MFA from the American Conservatory Theater and, while at ACT, co-pioneered, The Nia Project, which provided artistic outlets for youth residing in Bayview/Huntspoint.
Productions of her plays Sojourners, runboyrun, Her Portmanteau and In Old Age have been seen at New York Theatre Workshop, American Conservatory Theater, Playwrights Realm, Magic Theater, National Black Theatre, Strand Theater Company, and Boston Court. Zoom Productions of her modern-day PlayON! translation of Othello have been seen at the Woman’s Theater Festival and Actor’s Shakespeare Project. She’s also had a virtual viewing of her short play, Mediations on Love, with MCC. She’s the recipient of the 2021 Horton Foote Playwright Award, the 2017 Helen Merrill Playwright Award, the 2017-18 McKnight National Residency and Commission at The Playwrights’ Center and is a member of New Dramatists.
Mfoniso’s currently commissioned by Hartford Stage, Playing on Air, The New Black Fest/Apollo, Denver Center, The American Conservatory Theater, and South Coast Repertory. Her plays have been developed by Manhattan Theatre Club, McCarter Theatre, New Dramatists, PCS’s JAW Festival, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, The OCC, Hedgebrook, Sundance Theatre Lab, Space on Ryder Farm, Page 73, New Black Fest, Rising Circle and more.
She has worked as a television writer on: 13 Reasons Why, Little America, Pachinko, A League of Her Own and Let the Right One In.
Christina Anderson
Christina Anderson
Christina Anderson is a playwright, screenwriter, educator, and creative. Her plays have appeared at The Goodman Theatre, OSF, The Public Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, Kansas City Rep, and other theaters in the United States and Canada. Awards and honors include: 2021 Prince Prize, 2020 United States Artists Fellow, MacDowell Fellowship, Lily Awards Harper Lee Prize, Herb Alpert Award nomination, Barrymore Nomination, and New Dramatists Residency. Christina’s plays include: HOW TO CATCH CREATION; THE RIPPLE, THE WAVE THAT CARRIED ME HOME; MAN IN LOVE; PEN/MAN/SHIP; THE ASHES UNDER GAIT CITY; and BLACKTOP SKY. She taught playwriting at Wesleyan University, Rutgers University, SUNY Purchase College, and served as the interim Head of Playwriting at Brown University. Current projects: an original hip hop instrumental album titled BALDWIN LANE, and an original tv pilot GAIT CITY.
1st Reading: April 22 at 7:00 PM ET
2nd Reading: April 23 at 7:00 PM ET
3rd Reading: April 25 at 7:00 PM ET
Important Information:
For the safety of our audiences and staff, all ticketholders and attendees of this event must provide proof of vaccination in order to enter the theater. In addition, all attendees are required to wear face coverings while inside the theater. Click here for more information about our COVID safety policies.
Sponsors
No items found.
Friday, April 22, 2022
How did the artists of the Harlem Renaissance respond to the historic events that shaped their time? And how are contemporary creatives dealing with the issues of the present moment in their own work? These questions lie at the heart of the Apollo commission of the New Black Fest, which has engaged 18 contemporary playwrights to explore these themes in 10-minute plays.
Over the course of three staged readings, each playwright will premiere their new work, dramatically performed by an exciting cast of actors and readers. Participating playwrights include James Ijames, Eric Micha Holmes, Dahlak Brathwaite, Donja Love, Dennis A. Allen II, Christina Anderson, and Mfoniso Udofia. This event will be taking place on the Apollo’s Soundstage.
Please note that each reading features different playwrights.
Part of Apollo New Works, the Apollo’s first major commissioning initiative launched in 2020.
Leadership support for the Apollo New Works initiative is provided by the Ford Foundation. The New Black Fest is funded by the HBO Fund for Theater, The Black Seed, and is also supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Commissioning support for The New Black Fest is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts.
Ticket Information
Please contact the Apollo Box office at [email protected] or (212) 531-5305 if any other special assistance is required for your visit.
Additional Readings
New Black Fest: The Harlem Renaissance Then & Now
Date: April 23 at 3 PM
Robyne Walker-Murphy explores the impact and transformative power of Black artists of the past and today with contemporary artists, Zora Howard (award winning playwright and screenwriter) and Carl Hancock Rux (multidisciplinary artist and Associate Director of Harlem Stage).
Covid-19 Guidelines
For the safety of our audiences and staff, all ticketholders and attendees of this event must provide proof of vaccination in order to enter the theater. In addition, all attendees are required to wear face coverings while inside the theater. Click here for more information about our COVID safety policies.
Friday Readings Schedule
Directed by Cezar Williams Pumpkin and Juju by Liza Jessie Peterson
Color Theory by Eric Micha Holmes
Savage Art by Kareem Lucas
Directed by Goldie Patrick Untitled by Lisa Rosetta Strum
Being Light by Mfoniso Udofia
Goddess Help Us by Christina Anderson
Playwrights
Liza Jessie Peterson
Liza Jessie Peterson
Liza is an artivist; an actress, playwright, poet, author and youth advocate who has been steadfast in her commitment to incarcerated populations both professionally and artistically for over two decades. Her critically acclaimed one woman show, The Peculiar Patriot, was nominated for a Drama Desk Award and an Audelco and was featured at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. The play is now available on Audible. There is currently a documentary, Peculiar Silence, about her historic performance of The Peculiar Patriot at Louisiana State Penitentiary (aka Angola) where she performed the play in front of 700 inmates and was live streamed throughout the entire prison. During the early years of this play’s uncanny trajectory, Liza performed The Peculiar Patriot in 35 prisons across the country in a self-funded prison tour spanning the course of four years.
Liza is author of a memoir, ALL DAY; A Year of Love and Survival Teaching Incarcerated Kids at Rikers Island (Hachette publishing) and was recently commissioned by The Old Globe Theater to adapt the book into a stage play. Liza was featured in Ava DuVernay’s Emmy award winning documentary, The 13th, and was a consultant on Bill Moyers documentary Rikers (PBS).
In addition to The Peculiar Patriot Liza has written several other plays which received development support from The Lark, Syracuse Stage, The McCarter Theater, Manhattan Theater Club, New York Theater Workshop, New Black Fest, The Apollo and The Atlantic Theater. Her play, SistahGurls and the Squirrel, is in development for a stage production and is being adapted for television. Also known for her exceptional poetic skills, Liza began her poetry career at the Nuyorican Poets Café and was a vital member of the enclave of notable poets that inspired Russell Simmons to bring spoken word to HBO where Liza appeared on two episodes of Def Poetry.
As an actress Liza will appear in a new Showtime mini-series by Sacha Jenkins, (Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men, Bitchin’: The Sound and Fury of Rick James). She can be seen in A Luv Tale (BETplus), Love the Hard Way (co-starring with Pam Grier and Adrien Brody) Spike Lee’s Bamboozled, K. Shalini’s A Drop of Life and Jamie Catto’s What About Me. Liza wrote and starred in two short films, MERLINA (www.merlinaproject.com) and Black Love Manifesto, which premiered at Urban World Film Festival.
Eric Micha Holmes
Eric Micha Holmes
Eric Micha Holmes is a playwright and audio-dramatist whose work has been heard on Audible (“Rapture Season”), the BBC (“Care Inc.”), and seen at The National Black Theatre (“Mondo Tragic,”) The New Black Fest (“Pornplay; or, Blessèd Are The Meek”), New York Theatre Workshop (“Nimpsey Pink”), and Guild Hall (“Falls For Jodie”). Residencies and fellowships include Djerassi Artist Residency, The Dramatist Guild Fellowship, Space At Ryder Farm, ‘I Am Soul’ Playwright’s Residency at The National Black Theatre, The Actor’s Studio Playwright/Director Unit, and more.
“Walking Next To Michael Brown: Confessions Of A Tragic Mulatto,” was commissioned by The New Black Fest and has toured with Kennedy Center’s Civic Artist Award winning “Hands Up: 7 Playwrights / 7 Testaments” to theaters across the country including: The Alliance Theatre, The Brooklyn Museum Of Art, Red Door Theatre, Crowded Fire Theatre, The Museum Of The Moving Image, The Hansberry Project, and Flashpoint Theatre (world premier).
Kareem M. Lucas
Kareem M. Lucas
KAREEM M. LUCAS is a Brooklyn born and Harlem based Actor/Writer/Producer/Director. His solo pieces include “The Maturation of an Inconvenient Negro (or iNEGRO)”, “Black Is Beautiful, But It Ain’t Always Pretty”, “RATED BLACK: An American Requiem”, “From Brooklyn With Love”, “A Boy & His Bow”, and “A Warm Winter”. He’s performed his work at The Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, American Repertory Theater, The Greene Space, Aaron Davis Hall at City College, The Town Hall, The Fire This Time Festival, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, HERE Arts Center, Hi-ARTS, JACK, IRT Theater, The Brick Theater, Teatro Circulo, Judson Arts Wednesdays, AFO Theater, The Slipper Room, among others. He’s an inaugural Jerome Hill Artist Fellow and a Usual Suspect at NYTW, and a teaching artist with the Classical Theatre of Harlem and The 52nd Street Project. MFA: NYU Graduate Acting Program.
Lisa Strum
Lisa Strum
Lisa Strum is a director, actress, playwright, singer and wedding officiant! Most recently, the virtual film production of BALTIMORE that she directed for Ramapo College won FIVE Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Awards. She was also one of the directors for “All Hands On Deck”, a Virtual Series with Project Y Theatre Company and will premiere her short new play, “An Actor Prepares” for the festival this year. As Resident Theatre Director at Five Towns College, she directed Flyin’ West, For Colored Girls… and SWEAT (Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Award Winning Productions). Lisa also directed FALL by France-Luce Benson for the 2019 One Act Play Festival with Ensemble Studio Theatre. She starred as Rose in FENCES with the REP and Virginia REP. She also starred in the Michigan Premiere of PIPELINE at Detroit Public Theatre, and SWEAT at People’s Light. Her solo play, She Gon’ Learn had sold out performances at the United Solo Festival on Theatre Row, and received one of the festival’s Best Solo Show Awards. The show was also featured with The New Black Fest at the Lark. As an actor, Lisa worked at Lincoln Center Theatre with Tony Award winning director Thomas Kail, appeared at Summer Stage, Signature Theatre, New Federal Theatre and The Obie Award Winning 48 Hours in… Harlem. Lisa also had a recurring role on Law & Order: SVU, co-stared on New Amsterdam, The Blacklist, and the television pilot Citizen Baines with James Cromwell. As an arts in education theatre instructor, Lisa is a staff facilitator at Columbia University for The Literacy Unbound Summer Institute and was the Theatre Specialist for the Abrons Arts Center at Henry Street Settlement for nine seasons. Lisa was a Finalist for the Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award and the recipient of the Playwrights Fellowship at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program. She was nominated for a New York Innovative Theatre Award for Best Outstanding Actress, and received a Broadway World Award for Best actress for the Regional production of FENCES. This year, Lisa will direct BLKS by Aziza Barnes at the University of Iowa, and will premiere her short new play, By the Way… with the Obie Award Winning Fire This Time Festival.
Mfoniso Udofia
Mfoniso Udofia
Mfoniso Udofia, a first-generation Nigerian-American storyteller and educator, attended Wellesley College, obtained her MFA from the American Conservatory Theater and, while at ACT, co-pioneered, The Nia Project, which provided artistic outlets for youth residing in Bayview/Huntspoint.
Productions of her plays Sojourners, runboyrun, Her Portmanteau and In Old Age have been seen at New York Theatre Workshop, American Conservatory Theater, Playwrights Realm, Magic Theater, National Black Theatre, Strand Theater Company, and Boston Court. Zoom Productions of her modern-day PlayON! translation of Othello have been seen at the Woman’s Theater Festival and Actor’s Shakespeare Project. She’s also had a virtual viewing of her short play, Mediations on Love, with MCC. She’s the recipient of the 2021 Horton Foote Playwright Award, the 2017 Helen Merrill Playwright Award, the 2017-18 McKnight National Residency and Commission at The Playwrights’ Center and is a member of New Dramatists.
Mfoniso’s currently commissioned by Hartford Stage, Playing on Air, The New Black Fest/Apollo, Denver Center, The American Conservatory Theater, and South Coast Repertory. Her plays have been developed by Manhattan Theatre Club, McCarter Theatre, New Dramatists, PCS’s JAW Festival, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, The OCC, Hedgebrook, Sundance Theatre Lab, Space on Ryder Farm, Page 73, New Black Fest, Rising Circle and more.
She has worked as a television writer on: 13 Reasons Why, Little America, Pachinko, A League of Her Own and Let the Right One In.
Christina Anderson
Christina Anderson
Christina Anderson is a playwright, screenwriter, educator, and creative. Her plays have appeared at The Goodman Theatre, OSF, The Public Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, Kansas City Rep, and other theaters in the United States and Canada. Awards and honors include: 2021 Prince Prize, 2020 United States Artists Fellow, MacDowell Fellowship, Lily Awards Harper Lee Prize, Herb Alpert Award nomination, Barrymore Nomination, and New Dramatists Residency. Christina’s plays include: HOW TO CATCH CREATION; THE RIPPLE, THE WAVE THAT CARRIED ME HOME; MAN IN LOVE; PEN/MAN/SHIP; THE ASHES UNDER GAIT CITY; and BLACKTOP SKY. She taught playwriting at Wesleyan University, Rutgers University, SUNY Purchase College, and served as the interim Head of Playwriting at Brown University. Current projects: an original hip hop instrumental album titled BALDWIN LANE, and an original tv pilot GAIT CITY.
Doors Open
Show Starts
7:00 PM EDT
Ages
Where
Soundstage at the Apollo
Event Date
April 22, 2022
Event Time
7:00 PM EDT
Awards Presentation & Concert
Dinner & Dancing
Location
Soundstage at the Apollo
Buy Tickets
Download Program Booklet
Sponsors
No items found.
1st Reading: April 22 at 7:00 PM ET
2nd Reading: April 23 at 7:00 PM ET
3rd Reading: April 25 at 7:00 PM ET
Important Information:
For the safety of our audiences and staff, all ticketholders and attendees of this event must provide proof of vaccination in order to enter the theater. In addition, all attendees are required to wear face coverings while inside the theater. Click here for more information about our COVID safety policies.
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The Apollo mainstage
Accessible Seating
The Apollo’s Historic Theater has 12 wheelchair seating locations available for every show, all on the Orchestra seating level. Tickets for wheelchair seating locations can be purchased at The Apollo Theater box office or on Ticketmaster.
Four wheelchair seating locations will be reserved until the day of each performance.Each seating level is accessible via the elevator inside The Apollo’s Historic Theater. Guests should be aware of the small steps leading toward the Mezzanine and Balcony seating levels. Depending on the guest’s ticket location for these two levels, additional walking may be required. If guests are not able to travel up and down steps, tickets for events should be purchased for the Orchestra level.
Four wheelchair seating locations will be reserved until the day of each performance.Each seating level is accessible via the elevator inside The Apollo’s Historic Theater. Guests should be aware of the small steps leading toward the Mezzanine and Balcony seating levels. Depending on the guest’s ticket location for these two levels, additional walking may be required. If guests are not able to travel up and down steps, tickets for events should be purchased for the Orchestra level.
VICTORIA THEATER 1
Accessible Seating
Victoria Theater 1 is a 199-seat flexible black box theater that can be transformed into a myriad of configurations and styles. It features an intimate lounge-like space that is ideal for stage productions, concerts, panel discussions, commercial shoots and private functions.
JONELLE PROCOPE THEATER
Accessible Seating
The Jonelle Procope Theater, named in honor of the former Apollo President/CEO, is a 99-seat flexible black box theater that can be transformed into a myriad of configurations and styles. It features an intimate lounge-like space that is ideal for intimate concerts, panel conversations, commercial shoots, private functions, exhibits, or installations.
The Apollo mainstage
Accessible Seating
The Apollo’s Historic Theater has 12 wheelchair seating locations available for every show, all on the Orchestra seating level. Tickets for wheelchair seating locations can be purchased at The Apollo Theater box office or on Ticketmaster.
Four wheelchair seating locations will be reserved until the day of each performance.Each seating level is accessible via the elevator inside The Apollo’s Historic Theater. Guests should be aware of the small steps leading toward the Mezzanine and Balcony seating levels. Depending on the guest’s ticket location for these two levels, additional walking may be required. If guests are not able to travel up and down steps, tickets for events should be purchased for the Orchestra level.
Four wheelchair seating locations will be reserved until the day of each performance.Each seating level is accessible via the elevator inside The Apollo’s Historic Theater. Guests should be aware of the small steps leading toward the Mezzanine and Balcony seating levels. Depending on the guest’s ticket location for these two levels, additional walking may be required. If guests are not able to travel up and down steps, tickets for events should be purchased for the Orchestra level.
Upcoming Events
Dec 27
The Apollo Stages at The Victoria
Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam 2024
The Nuyorican Poets Cafe presents the Grand Slam of 2024 a spoken word extravaganza hosted by Tony McPherson with sounds by DJ Luna Rosa. After eleven months of weekly slam winners competing every Final Friday the time has come for one poet to be named the Grand Slam Champion and win $1,000, a produced show in the new building and potential spot on our 2025 national slam team.
The Nuyorican Poets Cafe is a nonprofit organization rooted in the legacy of spoken word truth-telling. Founded by Puerto Rican /Afro Caribbean poets and visionaries, we honor this sacred history by creating an accessible forum for developing poetic theatrical, musical, and visual media works in the spirit of downtown New York subculture and experimentalism. Since closing our building for a major renovation, we have taken our programming offsite at different locations throughout NYC, the country, and the world. We are happy to bring the 2024 Grand Slam to the Apollo Stages at The Victoria.
Jan 9
Jan 9 - 11
The Apollo Stages at The Victoria
Loss
“Ian Kamau spins sadness into the sublime” - CBC Arts
The Apollo is proud to present Loss, produced by The Theatre Centre, at the Under The Radar Festival.
Loss brings an intergenerational family story to life through a stunning blend of live music, video, and powerful storytelling. Created by the Canadian visionary Ian Kamau and his father, famed documentarian Roger McTair, this multimedia performance dives deep into grief, healing, and the strength of community.
This isn’t just a show—it’s a journey that will move your spirit and spark conversations. Don’t miss your chance to witness the future of theater, where every moment pulls you deeper into an immersive, emotional experience.
Jan 13
The Apollo Stages at The Victoria
Legacy, Lineage and Liberation
The Apollo celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Black women-led theatrical dance company and social activism ensemble, Urban Bush Women with a stunning visual exhibition in the Laura and Frank Baker Gallery. With special pop-up performances on select dates, Lineage Legacy and Liberation: An Examination of Urban Bush Women’s Art-Making and Community Organizing Praxis contains rare photographs, performance footage, manuscripts, costumes and memorabilia from the groundbreaking ensemble’s 40-year history.
Curators:
UBW Co-Artistic Directors Mame Diarra Spies & Chanon Judson and Pia Monique Murray
Curatorial Consultant:
Laura Steward
Producers:
Jonathan D. Secor & Pia Monique Murray
Presented in Partnership with Urban Bush Women
ABOUT URBAN BUSH WOMEN:
Urban Bush Women is a groundbreaking Black women-led theatrical dance company and social activism ensemble, founded in 1984 by visionary choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar as an engine and an amplifier for the unheard stories of Black Women+. Today, under the artistic leadership of Chanon Judson and Mame Diarra Speis, UBW combines revolutionary performance, deep-healing community engagement, and ancestral knowledge from the African diaspora into a cultural force that is urgent, forward-looking, and essential.
UBW embraces the power of radical storytelling to activate social change. Whether creating genre-defying work for the stage, guiding the development of Black Women+ choreographers and producers, organizing for justice through art-making, or inspiring leaders across generations, UBW is an innovator, operating at the vanguard.
Jan 17
The Apollo Stages at The Victoria
Claudine
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1974 classic film Claudine and the life of the late James Earl Jones at The Apollo Stages at The Victoria, in partnership with the Harlem Festival of Culture Foundation.
Experience the powerful performances of Diahann Carroll and James Earl Jones in this timeless story of resilience, love, and community. Claudine tells the tale of a strong-willed single mother raising six children in Harlem, whose budding romance with a charismatic garbage collector is tested by the struggles of life within an oppressive system.
Jan 19
The Apollo Historic Theater
Uptown Hall
This annual event from WNYC and the Apollo Theater will explore Dr. King’s enduring legacy through the lens of belonging, reflecting on his vision for a just and inclusive society. Through powerful conversations with prominent public intellectuals, community and faith leaders, authors and artists, we will ponder democracy and civil rights under a second Trump administration. Join us for this inspiring tribute as we honor Dr. King’s dream and engage in a timely dialogue on the ongoing project of forging an equitable society.
Jan 20
The Apollo Stages at The Victoria
MLK Young Changemakers
Apollo Education invites the community to join this year’s MLK Young Changemakers event, honoring Dr. King’s powerful legacy in a modern context. MLK Young Changemakers is a series of conversations in recognition of Dr. King’s impact and the National Youth Day of Service where local and national youth leaders will explore how environmental and food justice impact our lives and communities.
Jan 27
The Apollo Stages at The Victoria
Professional Learning Workshop: Apollo Stories
Join Apollo Education for a full-day Professional Learning Workshop to explore the digital learning hub, Apollo Stories. This online resource of educator-created materials sparks critical thinking in students and ignites thought-provoking discussions on justice, culture, and identity.
Led by The Apollo Stories team, educators will receive expert guidance on integrating and adapting the free lessons featured on the platform into their classroom curricula. Gain hands-on facilitation experience, feedback, and dive into engaging, practical, classroom-ready activities.
Feb 6
The Apollo Stages at The Victoria
Apollo Comedy Club
Presented in partnership with Bob Sumner (producer of Def Comedy Jam, creator of Laff Mobb on Aspire), the Apollo Comedy Club celebrates these rich comedic roots with an evening of comedy on the Apollo’s Stages at the Victoria to serve as a late-night hotspot featuring the best emerging talent in comedy today.
The Apollo has a long history of launching the careers of countless legendary artists and performers in a variety of genres, including comedy. Comedic legends Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx, Monique, Jamie Foxx and Jackie Mabley (a.k.a. Moms) have all delighted audiences from the Apollo stage.
Feb 7
The Apollo Stages at The Victoria
Apollo Music Café: sahn
Falling on the heels of Valentine’s Day, the singer, songwriter and poet known as sahn has taken pen to paper to create an introspective musical love letter that covers the elements of loss, renewal and everlasting love. sahn delivers a powerful evening of smokey, jazz-infused, songs and stories from her debut album “the mornings”.
Feb 7
The Apollo Stages at The Victoria
Jump Up Jamboree
Embark on a vibrant journey through the cultural traditions of Africa, the Caribbean, and other areas of the Black Diaspora with School Day Live: Jump Up Jamboree!
Feb 8
The Apollo Stages at The Victoria
Apollo Music Café: For the Love of Luther
Master of Song and Apollo Legend, Luther Vandross is one of the most important voices of all time. On this night, his greatest hits are effortlessly covered with classics such as “Never Too Much”, “A House Is Not a Home”, “So Amazing” and more. It’s a night like no other with no stop to love!
Feb 13
Apollo's Historic Theater
Dining With The Divas
The Apollo’s Dining with the Divas is a powerful, annual fundraiser celebrating bold and extraordinary women from diverse industries who inspire and uplift. This special luncheon gathers over 350 guests for an afternoon of networking, sisterhood and empowerment.
Proceeds will benefit The Apollo’s year-round education, community, and performing arts programs, impacting tens of thousands of students and families in New York City and beyond.
box office
Support The Apollo
VISITOR INFORMATION
WEEKDAYS
10AM - 6PM
SATURDAY
12PM - 5PM
SUNDAY
Closed
*Tickets: Get tickets online through Ticketmaster.com or in person at both Box Office locations
*Group Sales: To book your group of 10 or more, contact group.sales@apollotheater.org
(212) 531-5305
The Apollo’s Historic Theater
253 W 125th St,
New York, NY 10027
New York, NY 10027
The Apollo Stages at The Victoria
233 W 125th St, Third Floor
New York, NY 10027
New York, NY 10027
*Tickets: Get tickets online through Ticketmaster.com or in person at both Box Office locations
*Group Sales: To book your group of 10 or more, contact group.sales@apollotheater.org
WEEKDAYS
10AM - 6PM
SATURDAY
12PM - 5PM
SUNDAY
Closed
Accessibility
The Apollo is here for everyone. Artists, audiences, and all supporters should be able to experience The Apollo fully and in a way that is comfortable for them.
The Apollo has taken comprehensive steps to ensure that entrances, seating, restrooms, and more are as accessible and compliant as possible. Learn more about accessibility options and support services that might be right for you.
Learn More
All persons and bags are subject to search. Bags that have passed inspection must fit comfortably under your seat. Oversized bags are prohibited.
No outside food or beverage. Accommodations are made for patrons with medical needs. Please email access@apollotheater.org or call the box office at (212) 531-5305 for assistance.
