AMATEUR NIGHT Returns At The Apollo For 90th Anniversary Season This Month
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.
By: A.A. Cristi Feb. 15, 2024
On Wednesday, February 21, Amateur Night kicks off its 90th season at The Apollo with a dynamic new group of artists who will battle it out over the course of 22 shows in front of The Apollo's notoriously tough “Be Good or Be Gone!” audience. This longest-running talent competition that has launched the careers of legendary stars like Ella Fitzgerald, Lauryn Hill, and H.E.R. will feature vocalists, rappers, dancers, instrumentalists, comedians, spoken-word artists, and other performers from around the globe.
This special season opener will feature 2022 Amateur Night Winner Kofi B. as a special guest co-host. Contestants will compete for a $20,000 Grand Prize and the chance to join the ranks of legendary past performers like Fat Joe, Machine Gun Kelly, and Jazmine Sullivan, while contestants between the ages of 5 and 17 will likewise compete for the title of “Child Star of Tomorrow” and a $5,000 prize.
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.
Tickets for the 90th anniversary of Amateur Night are on sale now at www.ApolloTheater.org. The Apollo will also host in-person auditions for contestants to join this season on Saturday, February 24, on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 9 a.m. EST, seeing the first 200 vocalists, rappers, dancers, instrumentalists, comedians, spoken-word artists, and other performers who will vie for a coveted spot in the Amateur Night season.
Tickets for Amateur Night are available at www.ApolloTheater.org.
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 2023, The Apollo will open The Apollo's Victoria Theater, which will include two new theater spaces, and begin the renovation of its Historic Theater, marking the first ever expansion and renovation of The Apollo in its nearly 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 Theater 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, 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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