How did the artists of the Harlem Renaissance respond to the historic events that shaped their time? And how are contemporary creatives dealing with the issues of the present moment in their own work? These questions lie at the heart of the Apollo commission of the New Black Fest, which has engaged 18 contemporary playwrights to explore these themes in 10-minute plays.
Over the course of three staged readings, each playwright will premiere their new work, dramatically performed by an exciting cast of actors and readers. Participating playwrights include James Ijames, Eric Micha Holmes, Dahlak Brathwaite, Donja Love, Dennis A. Allen II, Christina Anderson, and Mfoniso Udofia. This event will be taking place on the Apollo’s Soundstage.
Please note that each reading features different playwrights.
Part of Apollo New Works, the Apollo’s first major commissioning initiative launched in 2020.
Leadership support for the Apollo New Works initiative is provided by the Ford Foundation. The New Black Fest is funded by the HBO Fund for Theater, The Black Seed, and is also supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Commissioning support for The New Black Fest is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts.
Please contact the Apollo Box office at [email protected] or (212) 531-5305 if any other special assistance is required for your visit.
Date: April 23 at 3 PM
Robyne Walker-Murphy explores the impact and transformative power of Black artists of the past and today with contemporary artists, Zora Howard (award winning playwright and screenwriter) and Carl Hancock Rux (multidisciplinary artist and Associate Director of Harlem Stage).
For the safety of our audiences and staff, all ticketholders and attendees of this event must provide proof of vaccination in order to enter the theater. In addition, all attendees are required to wear face coverings while inside the theater. Click here for more information about our COVID safety policies.
Directed by Cezar Williams Pumpkin and Juju by Liza Jessie Peterson
Color Theory by Eric Micha Holmes
Savage Art by Kareem Lucas
Directed by Goldie Patrick Untitled by Lisa Rosetta Strum
Being Light by Mfoniso Udofia
Goddess Help Us by Christina Anderson
Liza is an artivist; an actress, playwright, poet, author and youth advocate who has been steadfast in her commitment to incarcerated populations both professionally and artistically for over two decades. Her critically acclaimed one woman show, The Peculiar Patriot, was nominated for a Drama Desk Award and an Audelco and was featured at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. The play is now available on Audible. There is currently a documentary, Peculiar Silence, about her historic performance of The Peculiar Patriot at Louisiana State Penitentiary (aka Angola) where she performed the play in front of 700 inmates and was live streamed throughout the entire prison. During the early years of this play’s uncanny trajectory, Liza performed The Peculiar Patriot in 35 prisons across the country in a self-funded prison tour spanning the course of four years.
Liza is author of a memoir, ALL DAY; A Year of Love and Survival Teaching Incarcerated Kids at Rikers Island (Hachette publishing) and was recently commissioned by The Old Globe Theater to adapt the book into a stage play. Liza was featured in Ava DuVernay’s Emmy award winning documentary, The 13th, and was a consultant on Bill Moyers documentary Rikers (PBS).
In addition to The Peculiar Patriot Liza has written several other plays which received development support from The Lark, Syracuse Stage, The McCarter Theater, Manhattan Theater Club, New York Theater Workshop, New Black Fest, The Apollo and The Atlantic Theater. Her play, SistahGurls and the Squirrel, is in development for a stage production and is being adapted for television. Also known for her exceptional poetic skills, Liza began her poetry career at the Nuyorican Poets Café and was a vital member of the enclave of notable poets that inspired Russell Simmons to bring spoken word to HBO where Liza appeared on two episodes of Def Poetry.
As an actress Liza will appear in a new Showtime mini-series by Sacha Jenkins, (Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men, Bitchin’: The Sound and Fury of Rick James). She can be seen in A Luv Tale (BETplus), Love the Hard Way (co-starring with Pam Grier and Adrien Brody) Spike Lee’s Bamboozled, K. Shalini’s A Drop of Life and Jamie Catto’s What About Me. Liza wrote and starred in two short films, MERLINA (www.merlinaproject.com) and Black Love Manifesto, which premiered at Urban World Film Festival.
Eric Micha Holmes is a playwright and audio-dramatist whose work has been heard on Audible (“Rapture Season”), the BBC (“Care Inc.”), and seen at The National Black Theatre (“Mondo Tragic,”) The New Black Fest (“Pornplay; or, Blessèd Are The Meek”), New York Theatre Workshop (“Nimpsey Pink”), and Guild Hall (“Falls For Jodie”). Residencies and fellowships include Djerassi Artist Residency, The Dramatist Guild Fellowship, Space At Ryder Farm, ‘I Am Soul’ Playwright’s Residency at The National Black Theatre, The Actor’s Studio Playwright/Director Unit, and more.
“Walking Next To Michael Brown: Confessions Of A Tragic Mulatto,” was commissioned by The New Black Fest and has toured with Kennedy Center’s Civic Artist Award winning “Hands Up: 7 Playwrights / 7 Testaments” to theaters across the country including: The Alliance Theatre, The Brooklyn Museum Of Art, Red Door Theatre, Crowded Fire Theatre, The Museum Of The Moving Image, The Hansberry Project, and Flashpoint Theatre (world premier).
KAREEM M. LUCAS is a Brooklyn born and Harlem based Actor/Writer/Producer/Director. His solo pieces include “The Maturation of an Inconvenient Negro (or iNEGRO)”, “Black Is Beautiful, But It Ain’t Always Pretty”, “RATED BLACK: An American Requiem”, “From Brooklyn With Love”, “A Boy & His Bow”, and “A Warm Winter”. He’s performed his work at The Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, American Repertory Theater, The Greene Space, Aaron Davis Hall at City College, The Town Hall, The Fire This Time Festival, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, HERE Arts Center, Hi-ARTS, JACK, IRT Theater, The Brick Theater, Teatro Circulo, Judson Arts Wednesdays, AFO Theater, The Slipper Room, among others. He’s an inaugural Jerome Hill Artist Fellow and a Usual Suspect at NYTW, and a teaching artist with the Classical Theatre of Harlem and The 52nd Street Project. MFA: NYU Graduate Acting Program.
Lisa Strum is a director, actress, playwright, singer and wedding officiant! Most recently, the virtual film production of BALTIMORE that she directed for Ramapo College won FIVE Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Awards. She was also one of the directors for “All Hands On Deck”, a Virtual Series with Project Y Theatre Company and will premiere her short new play, “An Actor Prepares” for the festival this year. As Resident Theatre Director at Five Towns College, she directed Flyin’ West, For Colored Girls… and SWEAT (Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Award Winning Productions). Lisa also directed FALL by France-Luce Benson for the 2019 One Act Play Festival with Ensemble Studio Theatre. She starred as Rose in FENCES with the REP and Virginia REP. She also starred in the Michigan Premiere of PIPELINE at Detroit Public Theatre, and SWEAT at People’s Light. Her solo play, She Gon’ Learn had sold out performances at the United Solo Festival on Theatre Row, and received one of the festival’s Best Solo Show Awards. The show was also featured with The New Black Fest at the Lark. As an actor, Lisa worked at Lincoln Center Theatre with Tony Award winning director Thomas Kail, appeared at Summer Stage, Signature Theatre, New Federal Theatre and The Obie Award Winning 48 Hours in… Harlem. Lisa also had a recurring role on Law & Order: SVU, co-stared on New Amsterdam, The Blacklist, and the television pilot Citizen Baines with James Cromwell. As an arts in education theatre instructor, Lisa is a staff facilitator at Columbia University for The Literacy Unbound Summer Institute and was the Theatre Specialist for the Abrons Arts Center at Henry Street Settlement for nine seasons. Lisa was a Finalist for the Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award and the recipient of the Playwrights Fellowship at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program. She was nominated for a New York Innovative Theatre Award for Best Outstanding Actress, and received a Broadway World Award for Best actress for the Regional production of FENCES. This year, Lisa will direct BLKS by Aziza Barnes at the University of Iowa, and will premiere her short new play, By the Way… with the Obie Award Winning Fire This Time Festival.
Mfoniso Udofia, a first-generation Nigerian-American storyteller and educator, attended Wellesley College, obtained her MFA from the American Conservatory Theater and, while at ACT, co-pioneered, The Nia Project, which provided artistic outlets for youth residing in Bayview/Huntspoint.
Productions of her plays Sojourners, runboyrun, Her Portmanteau and In Old Age have been seen at New York Theatre Workshop, American Conservatory Theater, Playwrights Realm, Magic Theater, National Black Theatre, Strand Theater Company, and Boston Court. Zoom Productions of her modern-day PlayON! translation of Othello have been seen at the Woman’s Theater Festival and Actor’s Shakespeare Project. She’s also had a virtual viewing of her short play, Mediations on Love, with MCC. She’s the recipient of the 2021 Horton Foote Playwright Award, the 2017 Helen Merrill Playwright Award, the 2017-18 McKnight National Residency and Commission at The Playwrights’ Center and is a member of New Dramatists.
Mfoniso’s currently commissioned by Hartford Stage, Playing on Air, The New Black Fest/Apollo, Denver Center, The American Conservatory Theater, and South Coast Repertory. Her plays have been developed by Manhattan Theatre Club, McCarter Theatre, New Dramatists, PCS’s JAW Festival, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, The OCC, Hedgebrook, Sundance Theatre Lab, Space on Ryder Farm, Page 73, New Black Fest, Rising Circle and more.
She has worked as a television writer on: 13 Reasons Why, Little America, Pachinko, A League of Her Own and Let the Right One In.
Christina Anderson is a playwright, screenwriter, educator, and creative. Her plays have appeared at The Goodman Theatre, OSF, The Public Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, Kansas City Rep, and other theaters in the United States and Canada. Awards and honors include: 2021 Prince Prize, 2020 United States Artists Fellow, MacDowell Fellowship, Lily Awards Harper Lee Prize, Herb Alpert Award nomination, Barrymore Nomination, and New Dramatists Residency. Christina’s plays include: HOW TO CATCH CREATION; THE RIPPLE, THE WAVE THAT CARRIED ME HOME; MAN IN LOVE; PEN/MAN/SHIP; THE ASHES UNDER GAIT CITY; and BLACKTOP SKY. She taught playwriting at Wesleyan University, Rutgers University, SUNY Purchase College, and served as the interim Head of Playwriting at Brown University. Current projects: an original hip hop instrumental album titled BALDWIN LANE, and an original tv pilot GAIT CITY.
1st Reading: April 22 at 7:00 PM ET
2nd Reading: April 23 at 7:00 PM ET
3rd Reading: April 25 at 7:00 PM ET
Important Information:
For the safety of our audiences and staff, all ticketholders and attendees of this event must provide proof of vaccination in order to enter the theater. In addition, all attendees are required to wear face coverings while inside the theater. Click here for more information about our COVID safety policies.
How did the artists of the Harlem Renaissance respond to the historic events that shaped their time? And how are contemporary creatives dealing with the issues of the present moment in their own work? These questions lie at the heart of the Apollo commission of the New Black Fest, which has engaged 18 contemporary playwrights to explore these themes in 10-minute plays.
Over the course of three staged readings, each playwright will premiere their new work, dramatically performed by an exciting cast of actors and readers. Participating playwrights include James Ijames, Eric Micha Holmes, Dahlak Brathwaite, Donja Love, Dennis A. Allen II, Christina Anderson, and Mfoniso Udofia. This event will be taking place on the Apollo’s Soundstage.
Please note that each reading features different playwrights.
Part of Apollo New Works, the Apollo’s first major commissioning initiative launched in 2020.
Leadership support for the Apollo New Works initiative is provided by the Ford Foundation. The New Black Fest is funded by the HBO Fund for Theater, The Black Seed, and is also supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Commissioning support for The New Black Fest is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts.
Please contact the Apollo Box office at [email protected] or (212) 531-5305 if any other special assistance is required for your visit.
Date: April 23 at 3 PM
Robyne Walker-Murphy explores the impact and transformative power of Black artists of the past and today with contemporary artists, Zora Howard (award winning playwright and screenwriter) and Carl Hancock Rux (multidisciplinary artist and Associate Director of Harlem Stage).
For the safety of our audiences and staff, all ticketholders and attendees of this event must provide proof of vaccination in order to enter the theater. In addition, all attendees are required to wear face coverings while inside the theater. Click here for more information about our COVID safety policies.
Directed by Cezar Williams Pumpkin and Juju by Liza Jessie Peterson
Color Theory by Eric Micha Holmes
Savage Art by Kareem Lucas
Directed by Goldie Patrick Untitled by Lisa Rosetta Strum
Being Light by Mfoniso Udofia
Goddess Help Us by Christina Anderson
Liza is an artivist; an actress, playwright, poet, author and youth advocate who has been steadfast in her commitment to incarcerated populations both professionally and artistically for over two decades. Her critically acclaimed one woman show, The Peculiar Patriot, was nominated for a Drama Desk Award and an Audelco and was featured at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. The play is now available on Audible. There is currently a documentary, Peculiar Silence, about her historic performance of The Peculiar Patriot at Louisiana State Penitentiary (aka Angola) where she performed the play in front of 700 inmates and was live streamed throughout the entire prison. During the early years of this play’s uncanny trajectory, Liza performed The Peculiar Patriot in 35 prisons across the country in a self-funded prison tour spanning the course of four years.
Liza is author of a memoir, ALL DAY; A Year of Love and Survival Teaching Incarcerated Kids at Rikers Island (Hachette publishing) and was recently commissioned by The Old Globe Theater to adapt the book into a stage play. Liza was featured in Ava DuVernay’s Emmy award winning documentary, The 13th, and was a consultant on Bill Moyers documentary Rikers (PBS).
In addition to The Peculiar Patriot Liza has written several other plays which received development support from The Lark, Syracuse Stage, The McCarter Theater, Manhattan Theater Club, New York Theater Workshop, New Black Fest, The Apollo and The Atlantic Theater. Her play, SistahGurls and the Squirrel, is in development for a stage production and is being adapted for television. Also known for her exceptional poetic skills, Liza began her poetry career at the Nuyorican Poets Café and was a vital member of the enclave of notable poets that inspired Russell Simmons to bring spoken word to HBO where Liza appeared on two episodes of Def Poetry.
As an actress Liza will appear in a new Showtime mini-series by Sacha Jenkins, (Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men, Bitchin’: The Sound and Fury of Rick James). She can be seen in A Luv Tale (BETplus), Love the Hard Way (co-starring with Pam Grier and Adrien Brody) Spike Lee’s Bamboozled, K. Shalini’s A Drop of Life and Jamie Catto’s What About Me. Liza wrote and starred in two short films, MERLINA (www.merlinaproject.com) and Black Love Manifesto, which premiered at Urban World Film Festival.
Eric Micha Holmes is a playwright and audio-dramatist whose work has been heard on Audible (“Rapture Season”), the BBC (“Care Inc.”), and seen at The National Black Theatre (“Mondo Tragic,”) The New Black Fest (“Pornplay; or, Blessèd Are The Meek”), New York Theatre Workshop (“Nimpsey Pink”), and Guild Hall (“Falls For Jodie”). Residencies and fellowships include Djerassi Artist Residency, The Dramatist Guild Fellowship, Space At Ryder Farm, ‘I Am Soul’ Playwright’s Residency at The National Black Theatre, The Actor’s Studio Playwright/Director Unit, and more.
“Walking Next To Michael Brown: Confessions Of A Tragic Mulatto,” was commissioned by The New Black Fest and has toured with Kennedy Center’s Civic Artist Award winning “Hands Up: 7 Playwrights / 7 Testaments” to theaters across the country including: The Alliance Theatre, The Brooklyn Museum Of Art, Red Door Theatre, Crowded Fire Theatre, The Museum Of The Moving Image, The Hansberry Project, and Flashpoint Theatre (world premier).
KAREEM M. LUCAS is a Brooklyn born and Harlem based Actor/Writer/Producer/Director. His solo pieces include “The Maturation of an Inconvenient Negro (or iNEGRO)”, “Black Is Beautiful, But It Ain’t Always Pretty”, “RATED BLACK: An American Requiem”, “From Brooklyn With Love”, “A Boy & His Bow”, and “A Warm Winter”. He’s performed his work at The Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, American Repertory Theater, The Greene Space, Aaron Davis Hall at City College, The Town Hall, The Fire This Time Festival, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, HERE Arts Center, Hi-ARTS, JACK, IRT Theater, The Brick Theater, Teatro Circulo, Judson Arts Wednesdays, AFO Theater, The Slipper Room, among others. He’s an inaugural Jerome Hill Artist Fellow and a Usual Suspect at NYTW, and a teaching artist with the Classical Theatre of Harlem and The 52nd Street Project. MFA: NYU Graduate Acting Program.
Lisa Strum is a director, actress, playwright, singer and wedding officiant! Most recently, the virtual film production of BALTIMORE that she directed for Ramapo College won FIVE Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Awards. She was also one of the directors for “All Hands On Deck”, a Virtual Series with Project Y Theatre Company and will premiere her short new play, “An Actor Prepares” for the festival this year. As Resident Theatre Director at Five Towns College, she directed Flyin’ West, For Colored Girls… and SWEAT (Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Award Winning Productions). Lisa also directed FALL by France-Luce Benson for the 2019 One Act Play Festival with Ensemble Studio Theatre. She starred as Rose in FENCES with the REP and Virginia REP. She also starred in the Michigan Premiere of PIPELINE at Detroit Public Theatre, and SWEAT at People’s Light. Her solo play, She Gon’ Learn had sold out performances at the United Solo Festival on Theatre Row, and received one of the festival’s Best Solo Show Awards. The show was also featured with The New Black Fest at the Lark. As an actor, Lisa worked at Lincoln Center Theatre with Tony Award winning director Thomas Kail, appeared at Summer Stage, Signature Theatre, New Federal Theatre and The Obie Award Winning 48 Hours in… Harlem. Lisa also had a recurring role on Law & Order: SVU, co-stared on New Amsterdam, The Blacklist, and the television pilot Citizen Baines with James Cromwell. As an arts in education theatre instructor, Lisa is a staff facilitator at Columbia University for The Literacy Unbound Summer Institute and was the Theatre Specialist for the Abrons Arts Center at Henry Street Settlement for nine seasons. Lisa was a Finalist for the Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award and the recipient of the Playwrights Fellowship at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program. She was nominated for a New York Innovative Theatre Award for Best Outstanding Actress, and received a Broadway World Award for Best actress for the Regional production of FENCES. This year, Lisa will direct BLKS by Aziza Barnes at the University of Iowa, and will premiere her short new play, By the Way… with the Obie Award Winning Fire This Time Festival.
Mfoniso Udofia, a first-generation Nigerian-American storyteller and educator, attended Wellesley College, obtained her MFA from the American Conservatory Theater and, while at ACT, co-pioneered, The Nia Project, which provided artistic outlets for youth residing in Bayview/Huntspoint.
Productions of her plays Sojourners, runboyrun, Her Portmanteau and In Old Age have been seen at New York Theatre Workshop, American Conservatory Theater, Playwrights Realm, Magic Theater, National Black Theatre, Strand Theater Company, and Boston Court. Zoom Productions of her modern-day PlayON! translation of Othello have been seen at the Woman’s Theater Festival and Actor’s Shakespeare Project. She’s also had a virtual viewing of her short play, Mediations on Love, with MCC. She’s the recipient of the 2021 Horton Foote Playwright Award, the 2017 Helen Merrill Playwright Award, the 2017-18 McKnight National Residency and Commission at The Playwrights’ Center and is a member of New Dramatists.
Mfoniso’s currently commissioned by Hartford Stage, Playing on Air, The New Black Fest/Apollo, Denver Center, The American Conservatory Theater, and South Coast Repertory. Her plays have been developed by Manhattan Theatre Club, McCarter Theatre, New Dramatists, PCS’s JAW Festival, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, The OCC, Hedgebrook, Sundance Theatre Lab, Space on Ryder Farm, Page 73, New Black Fest, Rising Circle and more.
She has worked as a television writer on: 13 Reasons Why, Little America, Pachinko, A League of Her Own and Let the Right One In.
Christina Anderson is a playwright, screenwriter, educator, and creative. Her plays have appeared at The Goodman Theatre, OSF, The Public Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, Kansas City Rep, and other theaters in the United States and Canada. Awards and honors include: 2021 Prince Prize, 2020 United States Artists Fellow, MacDowell Fellowship, Lily Awards Harper Lee Prize, Herb Alpert Award nomination, Barrymore Nomination, and New Dramatists Residency. Christina’s plays include: HOW TO CATCH CREATION; THE RIPPLE, THE WAVE THAT CARRIED ME HOME; MAN IN LOVE; PEN/MAN/SHIP; THE ASHES UNDER GAIT CITY; and BLACKTOP SKY. She taught playwriting at Wesleyan University, Rutgers University, SUNY Purchase College, and served as the interim Head of Playwriting at Brown University. Current projects: an original hip hop instrumental album titled BALDWIN LANE, and an original tv pilot GAIT CITY.
1st Reading: April 22 at 7:00 PM ET
2nd Reading: April 23 at 7:00 PM ET
3rd Reading: April 25 at 7:00 PM ET
Important Information:
For the safety of our audiences and staff, all ticketholders and attendees of this event must provide proof of vaccination in order to enter the theater. In addition, all attendees are required to wear face coverings while inside the theater. Click here for more information about our COVID safety policies.
The Girl Who Heard the Universe follows Zuri, a brilliant young sound scientist whose heart beats to rhythms no one else can hear. By day, she experiments with waves and vibrations in her Brooklyn bedroom-turned-laboratory, composing melodies that echo her boundless curiosity. By night, she gazes up at the stars, dreaming of how quantum particles might dance and sing across the cosmos. Blending music, science, and imagination, this story celebrates the power of wonder, the beauty of Black girl brilliance, and the belief that every sound—no matter how small—can change the universe.
For the first time, The Apollo and The Howard Theatre come together for a one-night presentation of live music in Washington, D.C.
With host Chris Spencer and special performances from the Clipse, Black Alley, and Gabby Samone plus, Grammy-Award winning artist Matthew Whitaker, and Wé Ani who got their start at Amateur Night at The Apollo Presented by Coca-Cola, giving D.C. Audiences a front-row seat to the performers who have braved the "world's toughest audience" and emerged victorious.
Best of The Apollo brings the legacy and energy of Harlem’s legendary stage to D.C. for a live music event celebrating Black music and the artists shaping it. Expect an unforgettable night of live music by award winning performers.
PitchBLACK Awards is Black Public Media’s signature celebration honoring visionary media makers who tell stories about the global Black experience. Heralded as an event where industry leaders discover new talent, PitchBLACK is also an evening of inspiring content, special guest appearances and the presentation of funding awards to winning creators.
This year, Black Public Media continues its tradition of excellence with a special tribute to the 2026 BPM Trailblazers: Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith, whose standard-setting body of work about the Black experience has garnered Emmy, Peabody and other distinguished awards.
PitchBLACK festivities will commence with a networking reception followed by the awards ceremony. The evening culminates with a lively afterparty featuring DJ Precise.
Join us at The Apollo Stages at the Victoria Theater on Thursday, APRIL 30, to celebrate PitchBLACK in Harlem and witness the magic!
Purchase your Tickets today!
Join us on May 1st as part of the Creative Labor, Creative Conditions campaign, presented in partnership with the Doris Duke Foundation and The Moth.
Led by global storytelling nonprofit The Moth, this showcase brings Harlem-based artists together for an evening of live storytelling that honors The Apollo’s legacy and connects today’s arts workers to a long tradition of cultural labor under The Doris Duke Foundation’s May Day activation: Creative Labor, Creative Conditions initiative. The program will feature 3–5 Harlem-based artists sharing personal stories developed through a Moth storytelling workshop.
Featuring DWIGHT PRYDE, CALVON BROWN, MIKE ROSS
HOSTED BY STILETTO
Step inside an intimate speakeasy vibe for an unforgettable, intimate evening with contemporary R&B powerhouse Teedra Moses, an artist who effortlessly weaves strength and vulnerability into every note at Apollo Music Café: UPclose. In this rare, UPclose performance, the iconic chanteuse brings the soul-stirring songs of her legendary album Complex Simplicity to life in a setting designed for true connection.
A live performance exploring culture, mixed identity, and the power of being many things at once.
What happens when who you are can't fit in a single box? When your skin doesn't match other people's expectations of your heritage, or when the communities you love aren't sure they claim you back?
Black Gumbo is a story that starts there. It follows Mary Olivette Bookman, Mobile, Alabama-raised, New York-forged, racially ambiguous for her whole life . As she works through a deceptively simple school assignment: present your culture to the class. What unfolds is an honest, joyful, and deeply human reckoning with what it means to hold multiple identities at once, and to eventually stop asking permission to celebrate all of them.
"I am Black, Native American, and French Creole of Color. Did you get all that just from looking at me?"
This isn't a lecture. It's an experience of a living collage of stepping, gospel, Indigenous dance, and Zydeco that mirrors the layered, irreducible texture of its creator. Each performance is its own ingredient. Together, they become something entirely new: Mary's gumbo- our collective Gumbo. And in building it in front of the audience, she invites every student in the room to start building their own.
For students who have ever been asked "but what are you, really?" and for those who've never had to answer that question at all, Black Gumbo offers a rare thing: a stage that says all of it counts, and all of it belongs here.
When was the last time you stopped to smell the roses? Apollo Works in Process: water riot takes audiences on a journey of collective reflection on climate change and inspires action. Set in a near future Chicagoland, water riot follows an unlikely coalition of black activists, challenging an A.I. police state by staging a protest against the privatization of Lake Michigan.
With a soundtrack built around the legacy of Black voices as the foundation of rock, punk, experimental music, and the memories of moments of resistance and public protest; Derek Lee McPhatter’s water riot invites audiences on a journey from anger, confusion, and despair towards determination, resilience and hope.
Celebrate Pride at The Apollo Stages at The Victoria with an integral conversation on representation of Black gay men in media with A Visible Life.
Join social-media creator and comedian Lavelle Dontae and artist-educator Dr. John-Martin Green with artist-scholar williambryantmiles for an intimate discussion featuring short film excerpts, performances, and fellowship. A Visible Life invites audiences to think about how both watching and crafting performance shapes and defines who they are, and who they aspire to be.
Celebrate Pride at The Apollo with Apollo Works in Process: A Little Light, a new queer coming-of-age musical by Derrick Byars. A Little Light tells the story of a young man navigating the rush of new love and the weight of generational survival. Centered on a Black family in a small Southern town, these new musical blends romantic comedy, theatrical camp, and emotional depth as soon-to-be college freshman, Jordan begins to step into the kind of life he’s only ever imagined.
Join us for a neo-soul dance party as we honor the late musical legend D’Angelo, whose revolutionary sound and artistry left an indelible mark on global culture. D’Angelo’s early roots can be traced to New York via The Apollo, where he won Amateur Night three times in a row then launched a career that would inspire a musical movement and soundtrack a generation. We invite you to meet us under the moonlight, slip on a pair of high-fidelity headphones and immerse yourself in D’Angelo’s music curated to perfection by the trailblazing sound collage artist and music maker DJ Reborn.
Location: 10 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 1002
Accessibility
The Apollo is here for everyone. Artists, audiences, and all supporters should be able to experience The Apollo fully and in a way that is comfortable for them.
The Apollo has taken comprehensive steps to ensure that entrances, seating, restrooms, and more are as accessible and compliant as possible. Learn more about accessibility options and support services that might be right for you.
All persons and bags are subject to search. Bags that have passed inspection must fit comfortably under your seat. Oversized bags are prohibited.
No outside food or beverage. Accommodations are made for patrons with medical needs. Please email access@apollotheater.org or call the box office at (212) 531-5305 for assistance.
