Salon Series

Since 2005, the Salon Series has been bringing cutting edge artists uptown to the Apollo, providing them a space to stretch their creative boundaries and present works-in-progress in the Theater’s 140-seat intimate Soundstage.  This groundbreaking series spotlights the Apollo’s continued dedication to its performing arts programming and its support of artistic experimentation and dialogue in contemporary culture.

This season the Apollo presents two events emerging from very divergent genres. The first presentation will be a fully staged reading of a new musical produced by Bisno Productions. The second will be the culmination of a one week residency of an original work created by Queen Esther and represents a blending of the Salon Series and the Apollo Music Cafe.

Mr. Chickee's Funny Money

Sunday February 19 & Monday February 20, 2012      

A New R&B Musical based on the book by Christopher Paul Curtis

Adapted by David Ingber

 Music & Lyrics by Lamont Dozier

Directed by Kim Rubinstein

Based on the best-selling book by Christopher Paul Curtis, Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money is a whimsical musical adventure for all ages - where cool kids, clubs, technology and James Brown feature prominently.  9-year old Steven is a self-proclaimed detective, the inventor of fantastic spying equipment, and of course, President of the "Flint Future Detectives Club."  When Steven is asked to unlock the secret behind a Quadrillion dollar bill given to him by the bizarre blind man in his neighborhood, he nearly loses his BFF (a giant flying dog), and risks alienating his family and school pals as he attempts to escape the FBI and emerge as a hero. 

At the heart of this whimsical story is a smart, quirky, and entrepreneurial kid, who completes a fantastical journey and discovers what’s really important:  family, friends & determination is all you need - and sharing the spotlight with others can make things shine even brighter.

The Billie Holiday Project

Friday, April 13 & Saturday April 14, 2012

Featuring - Queen Esther

With - Francesca Harper, Keith L. Thomas, Charles Wallace 

Directed by Talvin Wilkes 

Billie Holiday’s rarer sides and two of Zora Neale Hurston’s newly discovered short stories Monkey Junk and The Country in the Woman combine to reveal a true glimpse of The Harlem Renaissance and black urban life in the 1920s. With the relatively unknown yet timeless songs of the iconic siren Billie Holiday as an aural backdrop for newly unearthed Zora Neale Hurston  “fables” of uptown life, vocalist/librettist Queen Esther -- along with dancer/choreographer Francesca Harper, actor Charles Wallace and actor/dancer Keith L. Thomas -- explore new ground by giving this unexplored material a fresh perspective.

Accompaniment provided by Queen Esther's jazz quintet The Hot Five, under the musical direction of pianist Matt Ray.

Originally created for Harlem Stage as part of their Harlem Stride series and performed as part of the Harlem Stage program "Blazing Tongues: The Singers and Writers of Lenox Lounge"; presented as part of the Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival, May 2011, at the Lenox Lounge Zebra Room.