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The 18th Annual Tribeca Film Festival opened up with a screening of "The Apollo," about the legendary theater that has been providing over 80 years of African American entertainment located on 125th Street between Frederick Douglass and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevards in NYC, NY. The film captures the 1,506 seat venue, which became 'The Apollo' in 1938, with honesty and pride.  Amateur Night at The Apollo, founded by Ralph Cooper, is held every Wednesday evening, and offers unknown African American artists a chance to perform with the hopes of catching their big break.

The film also provides interesting facts you may or may have not have known about the following singers and performers:

Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Billy Holiday, Dinah Washington, Eartha Kitt, Etta James, Martha and the Vandellas, The Four Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes, Little Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, The Isley Brothers, James Brown, Pharrell Williams, and Common,

Comedians: Redd Foxx, Richard Pryor, Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle,

Social unrest and racial discrimination: Trayvon Martin, Jamar Clark, and Eric Garner,

Politicians and activists: Malcolm X, Charles Rangel, and Barack Obama,

Businessmen: Bobby Schiffman, Percy Sutton, and the financial up's and downs the theater has seen over the years, 

and

Tribute concerts to those entertainers who have passed away: James Brown (2006), Michael Jackson (2009), Whitney Houston (2012),  Prince (2016), and Aretha Franklin (2018).

The University of The Apollo!

Must see!

HBO