Harlem Song Saved from Premature Closing

By Antoine du Rocher


NEW YORK, 18 November 2002 - Thanks to last minute contributions of more than $300,000 from a coalition of funders including the New York / Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, the Rockefeller Foundation, the New York City Investment Fund and the AOL Time Warner Foundation, Harlem Song, one of the most feted musicals in New York, announced today that it will continue its scheduled run at the Apollo Theater through 31 December 2002.

Two weeks ago, to the surprise of the arts community, the producers of the $4 million dollar Harlem Song, announced they could no longer afford to keep the show open. Despite over $2 million in ticket sales and enthusiastic endorsements from local arts executives, merchants and restaurant owners, the show had been losing money since it opened on 4 August 2002. Part of the problem can be attributed to Harlem Song's difficulty in drawing the New York theatre-going public uptown to the Apollo Theater. For all of its cosmopolitan grandstanding, New York City remains a town composed of racially divided neighborhoods. Many whites and visitors to New York still fear Manhattan neighborhoods north of 96th Street.

Written and directed by George C. Wolfe and performed Saturdays through Mondays, Harlem Song, tells the story of African-American and Latino culture in Harlem through music, dance, film and photographs. In many ways, the show has been symbolic of and a contribution to the current renaissance of Harlem where more affordable, albeit speculative, real estate and quality renovation are steadily attracting a racially mixed group of middle-class professionals unable—or simply refusing—to buy into the hype of over-priced areas of Manhattan.

Moreover, Harlem Song has proved to be an excellent calling card for the current $53 million restoration of the Apollo Theater, a legendary venue synonomous with black culture in America. "The continued presence of Harlem Song on 125th Street is central to the ongoing revitalization of the Apollo Theatre and the surrounding area", said Kathryn Wylde, President and CEO of the New York City Investment Fund in a statement to the media. "The Investment Fund is pleased to partner with a diverse array of civic-minded companies and foundations to assure the survival of this important celebration of African-American and Latino heritage and culture." David Rodriguez, Apollo Theater Executive Director added, "the Apollo family is ecstatic that Harlem Song will complete its full season and looks forward to it returning to the Apollo each year. Now, more people will have the opportunity to share in the full Harlem experience—live theater at a landmark institution."

Tickets for Harlem Song are available at the Apollo Theater box office, 253 West 125th Street. Tickets are also available through Ticketmaster ticket centers and charge by phone (212) 307 71 71 and online at Harlemsong.com.


Book Tip : Remember Me To Harlem
The Letters of Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten, 1925 - 1964
Edited by Emily Bernard
Hardcover: 356 pages; 62 illustrations
Alfred A. Knopf, New York (13 February 2001)
ISBN: 0679451137
$30



Remember Me To Harlem is a brilliant, personal and highly entertaining correspondence between the American writer and poet Langston Hughes and his ardent supporter and friend, Carl Van Vechten. Largely forgotten, Van Vechten was a leading cultural critic in New York and wrote for the New York Times as well as Vanity Fair. He helped to promote the work of many African-American composers, musicians, playwrights and performers. Van Vechten's novel, Nigger Heaven, created a scandal upon publication in 1926. Spanning some forty years, the letters provide an extraordinary entrée into the world of the Harlem Renaissance and the major and minor artistic and intellectual figures that inhabited it.

Selected from a much greater correspondence archive, and published in their entirety, the letters are a treasure trove of gossip, literary banter and astute commentary on the arts, racism in America, civil rights, money, and the world at large. While Hughes emerges as Van Vechten's superior as an artist and activist, both men are manifestly equals in their intellectual rigor, commitment to African-American popular culture, cosmopolitan sophistication and affection for one another.

The tone might seem precious today, but no more so than other modern literary correspondances such as Claudel / Gide. In an age, when trite sound bites, perfunctory e-mail, bad syntax and above all, la mauvaise education have all but destroyed the art of correspondence, Remember Me To Harlem is a refreshing and consistantly witty reminder of how it was once done. Full marks to Emily Bernard, a professor at Smith College, whose impeccable, albeit sometimes dour, footnotes clarify the identities and relationships mentioned in the letters.

Antoine du Rocher

Antoine du Rocher is a French cultural journalist and writer based in New York. He is also a member of the editorial board of Culturekiosque.com