The impressive and fairly known landmark the "Apollo Theater" is originally located on 253 West Street 125th Street in Harlem , New York. Its bright lights flash in the dark of crowded streets in New York.The building was named after Apollo Greek God of poetry, music, and prophecy .With performances ranging from swing jazz ,gospel, comedy and dance, the Apollo Theater is more than just a pretty landmark , it's a symbol of Harlem, and a symbol of hope and opportunity for aspiring performers ( Secrets of the Apollo).
The building was designed by architect George Keister, and established in 1913.First owned by Sidney Cohen, then bought by Jules Hurtig and Harry Seaman in 1914 and named “Hurtig and Seaman’s New Burlesque. Originally they did…show more content… The urban city of Harlem started rapidly becoming the largest urban black community in the whole entire nation. However, the audience and performers of the Apollo remained white ( Apollo Theatre, The (1913-). As business started to get better people started to stop coming which made the building shut down once more.
Cohen , then re-opened the building in 1934, with his CEO Morris Sussman . Cohen and Sussman the redirected the performances of burlesque to a variety of performances, towards the growing urban population of African-Americans in the city of Harlem. The building started gaining a wide source of popularity among the community(Apollo Theater History). (2)
Big competitors of the Apollo Theater Frank Schiffman ( owner of Lafayette ) and Leo Bercher bought out the building from previous owners in 1935.Up until 1970 the building was owned by family members of Frank and Leo. That was until they were thrown out of business and closed down . Then briefly opened in the 1970’s under a new management team, but closed again in November of 1979 due to poor money management and building upkeep. Thought things started looking brighter for the theater , as it was declared to be a Historic Landmark in the early 1980’s.(Apollo Theater