Embracing the Majesty and Mystery of the Apollo!

Embracing the Majesty and Mystery of the Apollo!

Beautiful People, 

Recently Carol Maillard, #HISTORYMAKER and one of the founding members of #SweetHoneyInTheRock  invited me to the screening of the HBO APOLLO THEATER Documentary

at Tribeca Screening Room. BRAVO! 

First we saw the riveting, award winning short STAY CLOSE directed by Luther Clement and Shuhan Fan.  This film journeyed the life of Olympic fencer Keeth Smart, he and his sister Erin's time as students of Peter Westbrook, family commitment, illness, death, and bittersweet success.  It also demonstrates the rise of Black and other Fencers of color in the United States.  WOW! 

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“That stage, The Apollo, is where we go to voice who we are, where we are and where we’re going,” Oscar-winning filmmaker Roger Ross Williams tells Deadline. "

And then watching #RogerRossWilliam's #THEAPOLLO, we danced in our seats, sang, laughed and cried as the history,  politics and music of our Beloved Apollo Theater and a slice of Jim Crow and Civil Rights was juxtaposed with the state of race in America today and through "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates.  

From Billie Holiday's STRANGE FRUIT to Moms Mabley, Dick Gregory, Richard Pryor, Aretha Franklin, many Motown Artists like Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight, Pattie LaBelle, Smokey Robinson to Duke Ellington, Eartha Kitt, James Brown, Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Adam Clayton Powell, Percy Sutton and so many others; We REMEMBERED, as seeing these artists, activists and leaders chronicled parts of our own personal lives. 

On screen we also heard from people we knew like Lana Turner, Herb Boyd and Apollo Ambassador Billy Mitchell who still does tours to enthusiastic Apollo fans and a wide range of celebrities including Jamie Foxx, Angela Bassett, Pharrell Williams, Common, Patti LaBelle and Smokey Robinson. 

Afterwards, Apollo Producer Lisa Cortes asked editor Jean Tsien (another editor whose name I don't know) and Billy Mitchell onstage for a q&a.  It was especially magical for me because I was sitting next to Carol Maillard and had seen #SweetHoneyInTheRock perform at the Apollo. 

THE APOLLO IS A MUST SEE FILM!

Thanks Carol for the invite!  I am still reeling with Hope and Love!

Melony 💚

aka Miss Mellie Rainbow🎊 

From DEADLINE..."There are few cultural institutions in the United States to rival the importance of The Apollo Theater in Harlem. For going on a hundred years the 1,500-seat venue has showcased the foremost African-American talent, from Duke Ellington to Louis Armstrong, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Richard Pryor, Marvin Gaye, and Sarah Vaughan, among countless others. “That stage, The Apollo, is where we go to voice who we are, where we are and where we’re going,” Oscar-winning filmmaker Roger Ross Williams tells Deadline. His HBO documentary The Apollo is one of 15 shortlisted features that Oscar Documentary Branch voters are considering as they mark their nomination ballots. The film highlights some of the seminal moments in Apollo history."

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"The HBO documentary THE APOLLO, helmed by Oscar®- and Emmy®-winning director Roger Ross Williams, chronicles the unique history and contemporary legacy of New York City’s landmark Apollo Theater. The film weaves together archival clips of music, comedy and dance performances; behind-the-scenes verité footage of the team that makes the theater run; and interviews with such artists as Jamie Foxx, Angela Bassett, Pharrell Williams, Common, Patti LaBelle and Smokey Robinson. While uncovering the rich history of the internationally renowned theater that has influenced American music and culture for 85 years, Williams also examines the current state of race in America, following a new multi-media adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ best-selling book “Between the World and Me” as it comes together on the theater’s grand stage."