The Apollo Theater is a multi-use theater at 253 West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is a popular venue for black American performers and is the home of the TV show Showtime at the Apollo. The theater, which has approximately 1,500 seats across three levels, was designed by George Keister with elements of the neoclassical style. The facade and interior of the theater are New York City designated landmarks and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The nonprofit Apollo Theater Foundation (ATF) operates the theater, as well as two smaller auditoriums at the Victoria Theater and a recording studio at the Apollo.
Broderick Stephen Harvey Sr. is an American television presenter, comedian, actor, and producer. He hosts The Steve Harvey Morning Show, Family Feud, Celebrity Family Feud, Family Feud Africa, and the arbitration-based court comedy Judge Steve Harvey, and formerly hosted the Miss Universe competition. His accomplishments include seven Daytime Emmy Awards, two Marconi Awards, and fourteen NAACP Image Awards.
BET Her is an American basic cable television network currently owned by the BET Media Group subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group.
Ben Shenkman is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the comedy-drama series Royal Pains and the acclaimed HBO miniseries Angels in America, which earned him both Primetime Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations.
Suzanna Celeste de Passe is an American businesswoman, television, music and film producer. De Passe serves as the co-chairwoman of de Passe Jones Entertainment Group.
Stan Lathan is an American television and film director and television producer. He is executive producer and director of BET's Real Husbands of Hollywood. He has produced and directed numerous stand-up comedy specials starring comedian Dave Chappelle, including Killin' Them Softly, Equanimity, The Bird Revelation, Sticks & Stones, and The Closer.
Howard "Sandman" Sims was an African-American tap dancer who began his career in vaudeville. He was skilled in a style of dancing that he performed in a wooden sandbox of his own construction, and acquired his nickname from the sand he sprinkled to alter and amplify the sound of his dance steps. "They called the board my Stradivarius," Sims said of his sandbox.
Bobb'e Jacques Thompson is an American actor, rapper and comedian.
David Adkins, better known by his stage name Sinbad, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He became known in the 1990s from being featured on his own HBO specials, appearing on several television series, most notably as Coach Walter Oakes in A Different World (1987–1991) and as David Bryan on The Sinbad Show (1993–1994). He has also appeared in films such as That's Adequate (1989), Coneheads (1993), Houseguest (1995), Jingle All the Way (1996), Crazy as Hell (2002) and Planes (2013).
Steve Rotfeld Productions (SRP) is a television production, stock footage, and broadcast syndication company based in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. The company was founded in 1986 by president Steve Rotfeld. SRP currently produces six educational/informational (E/I)-compliant series through its syndication division: Wild About Animals, Awesome Adventures, Whaddyado, Chat Room, and Animal Science. Additionally, SRP is currently producing one-hour quarterly specials of its popular sports programs, Greatest Sports Legends and Sports Gone Wild. Since 1985, SRP's programs have appeared in national broadcast syndication and on major cable channels such as TLC, ESPN, Animal Planet, truTV, and the Travel Channel.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is an American late-night news and political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Spartina Productions and CBS Studios, it is the second iteration of CBS' Late Show franchise. The program is taped at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City, the same studio as its predecessor Late Show with David Letterman. It airs new episodes live to tape in most U.S. markets Mondays to Thursdays at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT, as with its competitors Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
From 1991 to 2020, the Fox television network aired New Year's Eve specials with various hosts and formats. Many of these specials featured music performances by popular musicians, and coverage of the Times Square ball drop in New York City, although some deviated from this format by focusing on festivities in other cities.
Maxine Lewis is a producer, talent scout, and event planner for Harlem's Amateur Night. She was Percy Sutton's spokeswoman. Percy Sutton was a Harlem leader and co-founder of the Inner City Broadcasting Corporation. The Inner City group was founded in 1970. It was founded by a group of prominent African-American New Yorkers, such as Clarence Benjamin Jones, Hal Jackson, Carl McCall, Wilbert Tatum, David Dinkins, Betty Shabazz, and other shareholders that were active in business, community civic involvements and development. Percy Sutton was a long term Manhattan Borough president and was a high-ranking black elected official in New York City. He was a civil rights lawyer, an entrepreneur and freedom rider. The Inner City Broadcasting Corporation bought WLIB-AM, one of the city's first African American owned radio stations. Maxine Lewis starting working for Percy Sutton in the early 80s. Sutton produced It's Showtime at the Apollo, a syndicated, music television show first broadcast on September 12, 1987.
Our Cartoon President is an American adult animated satirical television series that premiered on February 11, 2018, and ended on November 8, 2020, on Showtime. The series was created by Stephen Colbert, Chris Licht, Matt Lappin, Tim Luecke, and R. J. Fried and is based on a recurring segment from Colbert's late-night talk show The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Bruno Mars: 24K Magic Live at the Apollo was a television special starring American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars performing live at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City. It was produced by Fulwell 73 Productions and co-produced by Ben Winston, Mars and Julie Greenwald. Aired on November 29, 2017, the show depicts Mars and his band, the Hooligans, interacting with locals intercut with a performance of most of Mars's third studio album, 24K Magic (2016). The special had previously begun at Apollo's marquee with a performance of the album's title song.
The Apollo Comedy Hour is a sketch-comedy that aired in first-run syndication from 1992-1995. The series was filmed the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. It was produced by the same people who produced It's Showtime at the Apollo.
Cam Anthony is an American singer who experienced pre-teen success with viral YouTube videos, and later won the FOX revival of Showtime at the Apollo in 2018, and the 20th season of The Voice in 2021, where he was coached by Blake Shelton.
William Mars is a British comedian, writer, producer and director.
