Legendary Apollo Theatre is expanding with two additional theaters
Rendering via Kostow Greenwood
Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theater, which helped launch the careers of Ella Fitzgerald, Michael Jackson, and other such luminaries, is expanding for the first time since it opened in 1934, by adding two new performance spaces and additional office space as part of the redevelopment of the Victoria Theater on West 125th Street. Scheduled to open in fall 2020, the new Apollo Performing Arts Center will allow the nonprofit Apollo Theater to increase the number of programming, educational, and community programs it offers.
The expansion will add 25,000 square feet on the third and fourth floors, including two new black box theaters: a 199-seat Classical Theater of Harlem and a 99-seat theater for the Harlem Arts Alliance. Architecture firm Kostow Greenwood is leading the design. The Apollo Theater is also developing a theater rental subsidy program for nonprofits, though the details haven’t been ironed out yet. Part of their outreach will involve more robust educational and community programs, and office space for partner cultural organizations like Classical Theatre of Harlem, the Harlem Arts Alliance, and Jazzmobile.
“The Apollo is the soul of American culture, and the Apollo Performing Arts Center will allow us to share that culture with an even wider audience, not only with the Apollo’s own productions but with other cultural institutions that will help us create and develop the kinds of resources that serve the creative community and audiences around the corner and around the world,” said Apollo Theater Executive Producer Kamilah Forbes in a statement. “The new theaters will allow the Apollo to provide support for artists throughout their career, especially emerging artists, and will provide an opportunity for us to grow our artistic programming as we continue to create a new, 21st-century performing arts cannon.”
The Victoria Theater Redevelopment Project at 228 West 126th Street will further the revitalization of 125th street by adding two 26-story towers that will bring 191 residential units, new retail offerings, and a Renaissance Marriot hotel.
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