Apollo Theater Announces 2022 Spring Benefit
HARLEM, NY – May 17, 2022 – The Apollo Theater today announced the 2022 Apollo Spring Benefit, the historic Theater’s largest annual fundraising event, will return as an in-person event on Monday, June 13, with the theme “The Renaissance Is Now!”
Hosted by Emmy® winner and SNL Cast member Kenan Thompson, the celebratory benefit concert for the iconic non- profit Theater will honor Filmmaker, Actor and Philanthropist Tyler Perry with the Impact Award. It will be presented by Academy Award® winner and The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg. The event will also feature exciting musical performances by The Roots, with a special appearance by Stephanie Mills and more to be announced. International Celebrity DJ, Derrick “D-Nice” Jones will return with his signature sounds for a lively benefit afterparty. Global investment and merchant banking firm LionTree, will receive the Corporate Award.
“After two years, we are thrilled to once again celebrate the future and legacy of the Apollo Theater in-person at our annual Spring Benefit,” said Jonelle Procope, President & CEO of the Apollo Theater. “Now more than ever, we recognize the significance of supporting artists, uplifting the community, and serving as a cultural organization that centers on Black voices.”
Proceeds from the Spring Benefit support the non-profit organization’s year-round, world-class artististic, education, and community programs and collaborations, as well as its commitment to using arts and culture to articulate and project the African American narrative and create a 21st century performing arts canon.
The Apollo season’s theme, “The Renaissance is Now!,” and its presentations expanded the non-profit theater’s role as a partner, commissioner, and co-producer of programming that centers Black artists and voices from the African Diaspora, while tackling social issues that are important to Harlem, New York, and the nation.
“The Apollo has long been at the intersection of artistry and activism, and this season paid special tribute to our incredible community of artists with timely presentations that honored our past, examined our present, and looked ahead to our bold future,” said Apollo Theater Executive Producer Kamilah Forbes. “From the inspiring new projects by our Apollo New Works artists to the annual Kwanzaa Celebration and Apollo education events that serve students across the city, both at the Apollo, in the community at large and on our digital platforms, we continue the Apollo’s legacy in this time of renewal and renaissance.”
The Apollo Spring Benefit begins with red carpet arrivals at 6:00 PM followed by the Benefit concert and awards ceremony at 7:00 PM. The evening will also include a post-performance party with a lounge created by celebrity event planner and Apollo Board Member Bronson van Wyck.
Additional details for the 2022 Spring Benefit including a full lineup of performers and special guests, will be announced at a later date. Visit www.ApolloTheater.org for more information.
Tickets
Tickets for the Apollo Spring Benefit are now on sale. To purchase Benefit tickets or to make a donation to the Apollo Theater, please email special.events@apollotheater.org.
Proceeds from the Apollo Spring Benefit support the Theater’s year-round performing arts programming, innovative education initiatives, and community programs.
For more information, visit www.ApolloTheater.org
Leadership
Event Chairs:
Kwanza Jones and José E. Feliciano Pam and Jon Henes
Pat and Al Zollar
Honorary Chairs:
Angela Bassett and Courtney Vance Taraji P. Henson
Susan Kelechi Watson
Tonya Lewis Lee and Spike Lee Phylicia Rashad
LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Samuel L. Jackson Pauletta and Denzel Washington
Premier Sponsors:
BNY Mellon
SUPERCHARGED by Kwanza Jones
Support
The Apollo’s 2022-23 season is made possible by leadership support from Coca-Cola, Accenture, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Citi, the Sherman Fairchild Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Jerome L. Greene Arts Access Fund in the New York Community Trust, HBO, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Public support for the Apollo Theater is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
About the Apollo Theater
The legendary Apollo Theater—the soul of American culture—plays a vital role in cultivating emerging artists and launching legends. Since its founding, the Apollo has served as a center of innovation and a creative catalyst for Harlem, the city of New York, and the world.
With music at its core, the Apollo’s programming extends to dance, theater, spoken word, and more. This includes special programs such as the blockbuster concert Bruno Mars Live at the Apollo, the world premiere theatrical reading of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s National Book Award-winning Between the World and Me, 100: The Apollo Celebrates Ella, the annual Africa Now! Festival, and the recent New York premiere of the opera We Shall Not Be Moved. The Apollo is a performing arts presenting organization that also produces festivals and large-scale dance and music works organized around a set of core initiatives that celebrate and extend the Apollo’s legacy through a contemporary lens; global festivals including the Women of the World (WOW) Festival and Breakin’ Convention; international and U.S.-based artist presentations focused on a specific theme; and Special Projects, multidisciplinary collaborations with partner organizations.
Since introducing the first Amateur Night contests in 1934, the Apollo Theater has served as a testing ground for new artists working across a variety of art forms and has ushered in the emergence of many new musical genres—including jazz, swing, bebop, R&B, gospel, blues, soul, and hip-hop. Among the countless legendary performers who launched their careers at the Apollo are Michael Jackson, Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Wonder, Billie Holiday, James Brown, D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Dave Chappelle, Machine Gun Kelly, Miri Ben Ari, Sarah Vaughan, Gladys Knight, and Luther Vandross; and the Apollo’s forward-looking artistic vision continues to build on this legacy.
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PRESS CONTACTS
Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis Paula Witt and Jalen Fairborne Chapman ApolloBenefit22@sunshinesachs.com
Apollo Theater
Fatima Jones and Sydney Edwards Press@ApolloTheater.org
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About The Apollo
The Apollo is an American cultural treasure. It is a vibrant non-profit organization rooted in the Harlem community that engages people from around New York, the nation, and the world. Since 1934, The Apollo has celebrated, created, and presented work that centers Black artists and voices from across the African Diaspora. It has also been a catalyst for social and civic advocacy. Today, The Apollo is the largest performing arts institution committed to Black culture and creativity.
The Apollo is a commissioner and presenter; catalyst for new artists, audiences, and creative workforce; and partner in the projection of the African American narrative and its role in the development of American and global culture.
The Apollo envisions a new American canon centered on contributions to the performing arts by artists of the African diaspora, in America and beyond.
