New Music and Theater Performances at The Apollo explore themes of Legacy, Heritage, Loss and Community
Harlem, NY – (March 18, 2025) – This spring, The Apollo will present programs from emerging and established artists singer/songwriter Martha Redbone, jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran, and award-winning actor Tonya Pinkins, each examining themes of heritage, legacy, and community. Both Redbone and Pinkins’ works fall under the Apollo Works In Process initiative, a key component of Apollo New Works, a program that expands The Apollo’s commitment to supporting the creation of innovative works across theater, music, dance and more, with a particular focus on emerging and established artists whose work challenges, reflects, and is in dialogue with the most pressing issues facing the community. The programs, which take place across the Historic Theater and Apollo Stages at The Victoria, signal The Apollo’s continued effort to take an active role in the expansion of the Black artistic canon and amplify stories across the diaspora.
On March 29, Indigenous activist and Apollo New Works artist Martha Redbone will be presenting an “open-studio” performance of her Apollo-commissioned work, Guardian Spirit: The Words of bell hooks. The multidisciplinary project sets the poems, prose, and essays of the visionary writer bell hooks against the backdrop of Redbone’s own composition, created in collaboration with composer and pianist Aaron Whitby. Focusing on hooks’ seminal work Appalachian Elegy: Poetry and Place, Guardian Spirit will encourage audiences to reflect on key themes of loss, displacement, and justice, calling to mind the region’s mountain spirituals and hollers and featuring an ensemble of vocalists and instrumentalists spanning piano, violin, guitar, bass, and drums.
On April 11, composer and pianist Jason Moran’s Ellington in Focus will illuminate Duke Ellington’s canonical jazz compositions, pairing music with stunning, rarely seen photography of Ellington by legendary photographer Gordon Parks. The presentation, taking place 125 years since Ellington’s birth, will be interspersed with Moran’s personal narration about the significance of the jazz legend’s impact, punctuated by Parks’ images. The one-night-only event in The Apollo’s Historic Theatre marks a homecoming of sorts—a celebration of Ellington and Park’s artistry, both cultivated in Harlem, and Moran’s return to The Apollo since his participation as composer and pianist in the 2018 stage reading of Ta Nehisi-Coates’ Between the World and Me.
Finally, April 12, Tony Award-winning actor Tonya Pinkins will present her first-ever play Jeffrey Manor, an exploration of Black womanhood across three generations in South Side Chicago. The work focuses on themes of generational trauma, joy as resistance, motherhood as revolution, as well as Indigenous wisdom and familial love. As part of the Apollo Works in Process initiative, Pinkins forays outside of her well-established career as an actor and delves into the role of playwright—the result being Jeffrey Manor, a deeply personal piece of theater with an entirely Black female cast and director. Performances at The Apollo will make the first-ever staging of the work. A talkback with Pinkins will follow the matinee performance exploring the play’s themes.
“The Apollo is a place to support, cultivate, and amplify Black art—whether that means providing incubation space for artists to explore new ideas, like Tonya breaking from her successful acting career to establish herself as a playwright, or celebrating the legendary voices that came before us, as Jason and Martha both do in their works, expanding upon the legacies of Ellington and hooks,” said Executive Producer Kamilah Forbes. “This lineup of programs is a presentation of boundary-pushing, interdisciplinary works from some of the most innovative artists of today.”
“The Apollo New Works program provides artists with a unique space to experiment and push the boundaries of their craft,” said Kelley Girod, Director of New Works at The Apollo. “The Apollo team is honored to have supported the development of these incredible works by Martha Redbone and Tonya Pinkins, and we are excited for audiences to witness a snapshot of their dynamic creative processes.”
This spring, Apollo will also present R&B legend Raphael Saadiq, comedian Luenell, and renowned DJ D-Nice on the 5th anniversary of Club Quarantine, featuring special guests. Additional information follows below. To learn more and view programming updates, as well as purchase tickets, please visit https://www.apollotheater.org/winter-spring-2025.
Ticketing Information:
All times below are listed in EST
Martha Redbone: GuardianSpirit: The words of bell hooks
Saturday, March29, 2025 | Public Presentations 2 PM, 7 PM
Guardian Spirit presents the poems, prose and essays of bell hooks set to music by vocalist, songwriter, and composer Martha Redbone., placing hooks’ seminal work Appalachian Elegy: Poetry and Place against the backdrop of Redbone’s unique mix of folk, gospel, and blues. Joining Redbone in the performance is a full band, as well as an ensemble of vocalists meant to evoke the sounds and history of Appalachia. In Redbone’s own words, “Almost everything [bell hooks] wrote resonated with my life, to the point I felt she knew my soul at its core...Herstories shone a radiant light on everything I had ever known and so many secrets lost before my time, bell hooks helped me listen to the whisperings of the guardian spirit. Having left our planet less than a year ago, it is only fitting to celebrate her writings setting them in music and storytelling.”
Guardian Spirit is part of the Apollo Works In Process initiative and is generously supported by the New York State Council on the Arts.
About the Performers
Martha Redbone (Composer, Vocals, Percussion)
Aaron Whitby (Music Director, Piano, Keys)
Charlie Burnham (Violin, Vocals)
Robin Macatangay (Guitar)
Fred Cash (Bass)
Kevin Johnson (Drums)
Keith Anthony Fluitt (Vocals)
Ramona Renea (Vocals)
Vivian Sessoms (Vocals)
Tonya Pinkins: Jeffrey Manor
Monday, April 7 –Friday, April 11, 2025 | Workshop
Saturday, April12, 2025 | Public Presentations 2 PM, 7 PM
Saturday, April12, 2025 | Post-show talkback to follow matinee performance
Set in the textured tapestry of the South Side of Chicago, Jeffrey Manor is a testament to the strength and resilience of Black womanhood, highlighting the intricate dynamics of generations of Black women bound together by lineage, family secrets and tragic outcomes, and exploring generational dysfunction and mental health issues that arise from a lifetime of trauma. Jeffrey Manor marks the first play from actor-turned-playwright Tonya Pinkins, best known for her Tony Award-winning performance as Sweet Anita in Jelly’s Last Jam, Tony-nominated performances in Play On! and Caroline, or Change, as well as credits spanning film and television, including 24, Scandal, and Random Acts of Flyness.
Jeffrey Manor is part of the Apollo Works In Process initiative.
About the Cast/Crew
Directed by Kiara C. Jones
Produced by New Professional Theatre
Featuring:
April Mae Davis
Aisha de Haas
Perri Gaffney
Gillian Glasco
Chloe Leigh Kekovic
Pernell Walker
Ellington in Focus Featuring Jason Moran
Friday, April 11,2025
The Apollo’s Historic Theater | 8 PM
Experience the timeless genius of Duke Ellington’s music, brilliantly illuminated by jazz pianist Moran and paired with rarely seen images of The Duke by legendary photographer Gordon Parks. Ellington in Focus comes to Harlem for the first time, honoring Ellington and Parks in the same place where they cultivated their craft.
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.
