Harlem's Iconic Apollo Theater 'Is Back', Mayor Says, Opens Soon

HARLEM, NY — In another sign of New York City’s rebirth, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Thursday that the Apollo Theater will soon open to the public and that the city plans to celebrate the iconic Harlem musical venue’s reopening with a celebratory event later this month.

The mayor said the city will host The Uptown Saturday Night extravaganza on Saturday, Aug. 28 with doors opening at 6:30 p.m., de Blasio announced at a news conference. Proof of vaccination will be required to attend. Free tickets will be available starting Monday and more information will be available on the theater's website beginning Friday.

The event will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Summer Soul Music Festival in Harlem and will include a tribute to Rhythm and Blues legend Lloyd Price and the show will include a variety of music ranging from jazz to Latin, Gospel, and everything in between, the mayor said.

“When you think of culture, when you think of music in New York City …you think about the Apollo Theater,” de Blasio said. “And the Apollo Theater is back.”

He added: “People show a reverence for the Apollo Theater and it’s going to be very important that people can go back and be part of this history again.”

Nona Hendryx, who was a member of the group LaBelle, will perform at the upcoming homecoming event, said that she will always consider the Apollo Theater her home and looks forward to celebrating the theater’s reopening. Hendryx said the Apollo is the place where she got her musical education.

“The Apollo has been part of my life since the very beginning and it was, in a sense, the center of New York for me,” Hendryx said Thursday. “Harlem was the center of New York for me. …the (musical) legends who play the Apollo travel the world and New York is the place that people want to come to when they come to America.”

She added: “The Apollo is a testing ground and a proving ground for so many giants in music.”

The reopening comes after Apollo officials announced in July that it will unveil a new expansion of the theater, which opened in 1934. The expansion includes two new theaters, which will seat 99 and 199 people each located on the third and fourth floors of the Victoria Theater Redevelopment Project.

Like other venues across New York City, the Apollo has been closed for performances due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Jonelle Procope, the President and CEO of the Apollo Theater, said that the pandemic has been an unprecedented event for cultural institutions like the iconic musical venue. She said that the upcoming reopening celebration at the Apollo signals to the world that New York City is back and that “we’re back stronger than ever,” she said Thursday. She said that theater officials are ensuring that the venue opens safely but that its reopening signals another step in the right direction as New York City continues to reopen.

“The Apollo is not just a cultural and economic anchor for 125th Street,” Procope said Thursday. “I would argue that the Apollo … is one of the important symbols of the city that never sleeps.

She added: “The Apollo ….has always been a beacon for the Harlem community.”