Arts & Entertainment
Apollo Theater To Host Fittingly Avant-Garde Tribute To James Baldwin
This weekend, the Apollo will honor the Civil Rights author with a multi-media performance that fuses live music and his iconic writings.
HARLEM, NY — The historic Apollo Theater is celebrating James Baldwin, the legendary Harlem-born writer and Civil Rights activist, this weekend in a way that the multi-hyphenate would have appreciated — through a mixed-media performance and experience that fuses his writings with original live music and film.
The performances, which will both be on Saturday, feature award-winning composer and artist Samora Pinderhughes, who will present an original suite of music alongside visual elements interwoven with Baldwin’s writing, including "The Amen Corner" — a play about a Harlem church — and "The Cross of Redemption," which is a book of his essays and articles.
The performance, "The James Baldwin Essays: As Much Truth As One Can Bear," also features a live musical ensemble and a choir.
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Pinderhughes originally composed the piece for Harlem Stage in 2015 and refreshed it this year, for the Apollo, Kamilah Forbes, Apollo's executive producer, told Patch.
"I think Baldwin's language and ideology are more resonant now than ever — his fight for equity, visibility and justice — and so it's quite fitting that we are presenting this work at the moment," Forbes told Patch. "I'm always excited to see how different art forms intersect."
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The celebration is in honor of what would be Baldwin's 100th birthday, which will be coming up in August.
"It was important that we, Apollo, really put a stick in the ground for Baldwin in the centennial," Forbes said.
The music from the event will develop into an upcoming EP, an Apollo spokesperson said.
The weekend also includes a screening of Horace Ové’s documentary on the author, which captures a poignant conversation between Baldwin and comedian-activist Dick Gregory. The Friday night screening will include a post-show conversation with Baldwin historian Rich Blint on Friday evening.
The Apollo Theater is located at 253 West 125th St. in Harlem. See information on the events here.
For questions and tips, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.
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