New York Premieres Open The Apollo Stages at The Victoria

WHAT:

This February at The Apollo will provide audiences with the opportunity to experience the first wave of commissioned works to take place on The Apollo Stages at the revitalized Victoria Theater, opening February 1.  The institution’s first expansion in its 90-year history will launch a series of new, original programs, including:

• The opening of photographer and gallerist Alex Harsley’s exhibition From The Victoria to The Village: A Visual History of Black Creative Spaces, the inaugural show in The Apollo’s Laura and Frank Baker Gallery in the revitalized Victoria Theater, providing a visual exploration of Black artists and creativity from the 1950s through the early 2000s. The opening night will be followed by a talkback with curator and author Halima Taha;

• Soul Science Lab: The Renaissance Mixtape, an immersive theatrical concert led by Brooklyn-based artists Chen Lo and Asante Amin that uses elements of hip-hop culture and visual storytelling to conduct a sonic exploration of the leading voices and philosophies that shaped the Harlem Renaissance, grappling with the question of where Black culture came from, and where it’s going;
  
• Four-time Grammy nominee and Apollo New Works artist Stefon Harris and his band, Blackout, putting on a one-night only concert showcasing rarely seen improvisational technique, in which Harris interweaves new technology and artificial intelligence with his own legendary musicality, resulting in a unique collaboration between software and human.

• The Melt Goes On Forever: The Life & Times of David Hammons, a film screening diving into the world of art and activism through the extraordinary journey of visual artists David Hammons from Watts rebellion era ’60s L.A. to global art world prominence today. Following the screening there will be a talkback with filmmakers Judd Tully and Harold Crooks and Apollo New Works artist Alex Harsley whose work will be on display in The Apollo’s Laura and Frank Baker gallery in The Victoria Theater.  

In honor of The Apollo’s inaugural season at The Victoria, thanks to generous support from The Jerome L. Greene Foundation, all tickets to Apollo-presented programming in those spaces will be capped at $20.  Tickets can be purchased here.

WHEN:

February 2024; programming dates and times, as well as ticketing information, can be found below.

WHERE:

The Apollo Stages at the Victoria (233 W. 125th Street New York, NY 10027)

PROGRAMMING DATES AND TIMES

All times below are listed in EST. 

From the Village to the Victoria: Gallery Opening & Talkback 
Thursday, February 1, 2024 
The Apollo Stages at The Victoria

The Apollo’s Laura & Frank Baker Gallery | 6:30PM
Tickets: Free 

From The Victoria to The Village will be open and on view Tuesday to Sunday, 11 am to 6 pm, between February 1 and April 30, 2024.  

Soul Science Lab: The Renaissance Mixtape 
Friday, February 8 – Sunday, February 11 
The Apollo Stages at the Victoria | See performance details below 
Tickets: $20

• Friday, February 8, 2024 | 8pm 
• Saturday, February 9, 2024 | 2pm 
• Sunday, February 10, 2024 | 8pm 
• Monday, February 11, 2024 | 3pm  

Stefon Harris & Blackout 
Sunday, February 18, 2024 
The Apollo Stages at the Victoria | See performance details below 
Tickets: $20 

• Sunday, February 18, 2024 | 4pm 
• Sunday, February 18, 2024 | 8pm 

The Melt Goes On Forever: The Life & Times of David Hammons

Thursday, February 22 , 2024

The Apollo Stages at The Victoria | 7:30PM

Tickets: $15

ABOUT THE APOLLO

The legendary Apollo—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. In 2024, The Apollo will open The Apollo’s Victoria Theaters, which will include two new theater spaces, and begin the renovation of its Historic Theater, marking the first ever expansion and renovation of The Apollo in its nearly 90-year history. For more information about The Apollo, visit www.ApolloTheater.org.  Read more about the project here: www.apollotheater.org/renovation-restoration-and-transformation/  

With music at its core, The Apollo’s programming extends to dance, theater, spoken word, and more. This includes the world premiere of the theatrical adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me and the New York premiere of the opera We Shall Not Be Moved; special programs such as the blockbuster concert Bruno Mars Live at the Apollo; 100: The Apollo Celebrates Ella; and the annual Africa Now! Festival. The non-profit Apollo is a performing arts presenter, commissioner, and collaborator that also produces festivals, large-scale dance and musical works organized around a set of core initiatives that celebrate and extend The Apollo’s legacy through a contemporary lens, including the Women of the World (WOW) Festival as well as other multidisciplinary collaborations with partner organizations.  

Since introducing the first Amateur Night contests in 1934, The Apollo 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 Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, H.E.R. D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Jazmine Sullivan, Machine Gun Kelly, and Miri Ben Ari; and The Apollo’s forward-looking artistic vision continues to build on this legacy. For more information about The Apollo, visit www.ApolloTheater.org.  

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