Contestants from Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, and New Jersey to Compete for the Chance to Win $20,000
Longtime Host Capone to be Joined by Ralph Cooper II,
Son of Amateur Night Creator and
Co-Host and Producer of Showtime at the Apollo
What
On Wednesday, May 8, contestants from across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, and New Jersey will take the famed Amateur Night at The Apollo stage to compete for bragging rights and a chance to win $20,000. In a night of neighborhood rivalry, artists from the five New York City boroughs and New Jersey will bring their singing, dancing, and more to Harlem and to the nation’s original talent show at the renowned Apollo Theater, which celebrates its 90th anniversary this year. Will the birthplace of hip-hop, the Boogie Down Bronx, where Jennifer Lopez and Fat Joe made a name for themselves, come out on top? Or will it be Brooklyn, the borough that gave birth to legendary artists such as Jay-Z and Maxwell? Or might it be Manhattan, Alicia Keys’s old stomping grounds, and home to Broadway and countless iconic theaters? Will it be Queens, the home to so many genre-defining rappers like Nas? Or the never to be forgotten borough, Staten Island, where Wu-Tang made their name? Or perhaps the Garden State, home to talents from Queen Latifah to former Amateur Night contestant Lauryn Hill to Whitney Houston.
Since its inception in 1934, The Apollo’s signature Amateur Night continues to gain global recognition for launching the careers of thousands of performers and attracting audiences from all over the world. Amateur Night has long been revered by artists as a transformative experience where up-and-coming talent feel the power of the legendary performers who have come before them, and where audience responses can help make or break a career.
Amateur Night is hosted by the comedian Capone. For this year’s annual Battle of the Boroughs, Capone will be joined by Ralph Cooper II, son of the original Amateur Night at the Apollo creator Ralph Cooper Sr. Mr. Cooper II. later went on to work with his father on producing and co-hosting the show, along with the television version, NBC’s Showtime at The Apollo, for twelve years running. Each show begins with a festive pre-party with the longtime Amateur Night band featuring video and music by DJ Jess and Set It Off Man Greginald Spencer, and throughout the show CP Lacey, the resident “Executioner,” sweeps booed contestants off the stage.
Tickets for the 90th year of Amateur Night are on sale now at www.ApolloTheater.org. Auditions for Amateur Night happen twice yearly in person at The Apollo and are accepted on an ongoing basis online at https://www.apollotheater.org/amateur-night/auditions/.
when
Wednesday, May 8, 7:30 p.m. EST, and every Wednesday through the June finale.
where
The Apollo’s Historic Theater – 253 W. 125th Street between Frederick Douglass Blvd. and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd.
Tickets
Tickets for Amateur Night are available at www.ApolloTheater.org.
Support
The Apollo’s season is made possible by leadership support from Coca-Cola, Citi, Sherman Fairchild Foundation, Ford Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, the Jerome L. Greene Foundation, The New York Community Trust, and The Mellon Foundation.
Amateur Night at The Apollo is sponsored by Coca-Cola.
Apollo Education Programs are made possible by generous support from BNY Mellon, Apollo EmpowHER, Steve and Connie Ballmer, ConEdison, The Walt Disney Company, William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, The Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, the Moore Charitable Foundation, The Neuberger Berman Foundation, The Pinkerton Foundation, Sony Global Justice Fund, and the Verizon Foundation.
Public support for The Apollo is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, with special support from New York City Council Members Julie Menin, Kristin Richardson Johnson, and Shaun Abreu.
about The Apollo
The legendary Apollo—the soul of American culture—plays a vital role in cultivating emerging artists and launching legends. Since its founding, The Apollo has served as a center of innovation and a creative catalyst for Harlem, the city of New York, and the world. In 2024, The Apollo opened The Apollo Stages at Victoria, which include two new theater spaces, and will begin the renovation of its Historic Theater, marking the first ever expansion and renovation of The Apollo in its 90-year history. For more information about The Apollo, visit www.ApolloTheater.org.
Read more about the project here: www.apollotheater.org/renovation-restoration-and-transformation/
With music at its core, The Apollo’s programming extends to dance, theater, spoken word, and more. This includes the world premiere of the theatrical adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me and the New York premiere of the opera We Shall Not Be Moved; special programs such as the blockbuster concert Bruno Mars Live at the Apollo; 100: The Apollo Celebrates Ella; and the annual Africa Now! Festival. The non-profit Apollo is a performing arts presenter, commissioner, and collaborator that also produces festivals, large-scale dance and musical works organized around a set of core initiatives that celebrate and extend The Apollo’s legacy through a contemporary lens, including the Women of the World (WOW) Festival as well as other multidisciplinary collaborations with partner organizations.
Since introducing the first Amateur Night contests in 1934, The Apollo has served as a testing ground for new artists working across a variety of art forms and has ushered in the emergence of many new musical genres—including jazz, swing, bebop, R&B, gospel, blues, soul, and hip-hop. Among the countless legendary performers who launched their careers at The Apollo are Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, H.E.R. D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Jazmine Sullivan, Machine Gun Kelly, and Miri Ben Ari; and The Apollo’s forward-looking artistic vision continues to build on this legacy. For more information about The Apollo, visit www.ApolloTheater.org.
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PRESS CONTACTS
For more information please contact:
Sydney Edwards
The Apollo
[email protected]
Elizabeth Cregan / Lauren Kelly
Resnicow and Associates
[email protected]