Apollo Theater

This past Wednesday night was a night that will go down in history as one of the most fun nights of my life! Yes, that is right! We went to the Apollo Theater right here in Harlem, only few blocks away from where we are living.

The Apollo Theater is one of the most famous music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with African-American performers. If you want a genuine Harlem experience, with all the "black-culture" that is associated with it you must attend the Amateur night at the Apollo.


In 1934, the Apollo introduced its regular Amateur Night shows; "where stars are born and legends are made." This night is like a hyped up "American Idol" with an extremely enthusiastic black crowd. It was so funny to see all the black people going absolutely crazy dancing, screaming, and singing along, while the white people just sat there gently clapping with the beat (if that).

The point of Amateur night is that the audience decides who stays and who gets kicked of the stage. It was hilarious to see how if a person missed one note, the crowd would go crazy "booing" which would get them kicked off before they even got started!


This was my favorite group of the night and for some reason they got kicked off! They sang a hip hop song called "Do the Hula Hoop." It was so catchy and they even had a catchy dance that I could see sweeping the country. As you can gather from the title, the dance is like you have an imaginary hula hoop around your waist. We are displaying it in the photo.



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, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Frankly, Mariah Carey, Lauren Hill, and MANY more.

This theater is a MUST see when you come to New York City, especially on Amateur Night.