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75 Years of Innovation and the Arts at The Apollo Theater by Frank Lovece It's Semisesquicentennial Night at the Apollo! Article rating: 9.71

For the less pedantic among us, this means the famed Harlem venue – the world's preeminent African-American music hall – is celebrating its 75th-anniversary season. Opened as a burlesque house in 1914, the neoclassical building at 253 W. 125th Street in Harlem had gone through different owners and at least two names by the time it debuted in its present incarnation on January 26, 1934 – opening its doors for the first time to integrated audiences, and soon afterward inaugurating one of America's grandest performance traditions: Amateur Night at the Apollo.

To mark the occasion, the Apollo Theater Foundation – the nonprofit organization established by owner New York State to operate the legendary venue – has put together a year-long salute that includes an African-American cultural festival in partnership with Carnegie Hall, curated by opera icon Jessye Norman and opening March 21; the Salon Series and works-in-progress and conversations with creators; the launch of the new national touring company of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, in November; a touring exhibition in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture, set to open in Washington, D.C., in April 2010; and plans for a film documentary and a television special. On the weekends of February 21-22 and February 28-March 1, the Apollo hosts a free Open House Series, with performances, panel discussions and backstage tours.

Photographically, the Apollo theater has been in the camera's eye from the beginning. (Click here to see a gallery of historical Apollo photos) And among the countless photographers who have shot its fabled halls and stage through the years, there are perhaps none so indicative of the high-end hobbyist spirit than Apollo Head of Stage Joseph Gray, the theater's chief carpenter and stagecraft coordinator. His unofficial photos – Shahar Azran has been the official house photographer for 15 years – demonstrate an eye as good as any. The 60-year-old former musician, teacher and construction worker claims his technique is non-technical and primarily intuitive – not unlike, perhaps, many of the singing legends who've graced Amateur Night on any given Wednesday at 7:30, and wowed them in the rafters. 

In addition to helping mount the stage sets, "I've been the opening act for the Amateur Night show for 12 or 13 years," Gray says. "And when we used to take the Amateur Night show on the road around the country, I was the tour manager." Additionally, after a youthful career as a drummer that included a four-month stint with the R&B group Cameo in the late 1970s, he says, "I co-wrote the theme song for Amateur Night" with Apollo Theater Foundation musical director Ray Chew. "I wrote the lyrics and the melody and he wrote the sheet music."

Next on his peripatetic path, he hopes, is to become a photographic mentor. "It's a dream of mine to use the Soundstage" – a smaller performance space and studio on the Apollo's third floor – "to have classes involving kids from the surrounding Harlem neighborhood."

And if so, there are some of the picture he might show, and his creative thinking behind them.

    "After seeing so many [jump-rope teams] jump, I can just fire away! For this particular shot, I'm sitting on the floor and trying to brace myself as best I can so as to not move the camera. At first I focused on the girl to the right, and then moved the camera over to the center and started shooting. Then I would focus on the floor and move the camera up. The shutter speed is 1/60, the f-stop is 2.8, and [the film speed is] ISO 400."

   

"[The Apollo was running] a play about Art Tatum's life. This was a stand-in for the actor who would be telling Art Tatum's story. In setting up the props for the show, I immediately noticed the bar and the handles.  I wasn't even thinking about [taking] a shot as I walked behind them, but then I noticed the actor reading his line was standing in perfect position. I ran back and got my camera, but he had walked away. I waited till he came back. At first I focused on the bar handles themselves, but then he would be out of focus, so I went the other way."

"This was [during] a video shoot. She was being videotaped on the Soundstage. What's in the background isn't smoke, but a picture of Lionel Hampton holding his vibe hammer. I like the expression on her face – there's a look of hope and happiness about it. Her eyes just sparkle in this picture. She just cuts through."

    

   "[At the Apollo Theater memorial service for legendary singer James Brown], I had the blessings of Rev. Al Sharpton to shoot. He was there and there was no problem. I know him, and he's used to seeing my face around. It was said to us ahead of time, 'This is the time for you guys to take your pictures now and then be done with it.' [There were] maybe six or seven of us at that time. I liked the fact there were leaves to sort of make a contrast between the living and the dead.

   

"I hadn’t realized the magnitude of what was happening around the theater, since I didn't see outside where 125th Street was mobbed with I-don't-know-how-many people. Finally  I saw on TV a helicopter shot of the crowd. Wow.

      

"I met James Brown when I was a kid growing up in North Carolina. He was at this bar-restaurant, Digg's Grill, it's not there anymore, where my grandmother was taking my sister and me to see his concert that night. [Earlier in the day] we went to get some refreshments, and I went to the restroom. [On the way,] there was a back room with booths, and as I walked back there, he was with these two ladies with beehive hairdos. I ran back to my grandmother and said, 'James Brown is back there! Can I go back and see him?" She said yes, so I grabbed my sister's hand, I went back there with my sister. I said, 'Hey, Mr. Brown, I play drums, too.'  I was 10 or 11 years old. He said, 'Really,' and we talked and he gave us passes to [attend] his sound check  I remember sitting on the front of the stage listening to him. He played drums for me, showing me how he did a backbeat."

   

    NBC news anchor Brian Williams and singer Mavis Staples:  "I shot them together; he was interviewing her at the Apollo. I added the background later. She was coming out with new album, and he had been a lifelong admirer of her music and her father [Roebuck "Pops" Staples]' music, and this was an opportunity for him to reminisce and talk about the times he had seen her and where music was going and what she thought of the industry. They were  very friendly and had several laughs together.  [The idea of Photoshopping in that background came because] I wanted to send [Williams] something special.”   (Two of Gray's photos appear on Williams MSNBC page at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20430365/.)

     

     "This was also on Amateur Night. I'm in front of the stage on my  knees, shooting up at this young lady standing in-between the sound monitors. I like when the spotlight is on the subject because it brings out everything. I like the shadows that you catch from different angles with the spotlight at your back. The accessories on their clothes, you get reflections form that. I liked this shot because of how the light hit her, and only later I saw how at ease she was – like it was the last note of the performance, and she's waiting for the applause."

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