“I started running errands here after school and on weekends in 1965,” reminisces Billy Mitchell, as he swings open the auditorium doors. “And before I knew it, I’m meeting all these wonderful people. The Temptations. The Supremes. James Brown and Marvin Gaye took a real liking to me — especially Mr Brown. He’d ask how my schoolwork was going.”
It’s a 30C morning in mid-June, but we’ve escaped the oppressive heat in the cool embrace of the Apollo Theater. Empty red seats cascade around us; lights illuminate the stage, set for tonight’s show. It’s a scene Billy, an Apollo veteran and ambassador of nearly 60 years, has seen many times. But as a rookie, I’m entranced by the storied space, and by Billy’s genuine charm; he’s met everyone in the music business and yet talks about it with the same kind of casual ease that I might discuss lunch plans. Though he is, after all, a local celebrity in his own right. He’s Mr Apollo.
“I’ve never called myself that you know,” Billy continues, “but the village of Harlem has chosen to call me that. I’m very grateful, of course. The theatre has always been a beacon of pride for this neighbourhood.”
Harlem, a 45-block stretch from Central Park to 155th Street — clipped by Fifth Avenue to the east and the Hudson River to the west — isn’t somewhere many first-time New York City visitors see. Or even second-time visitors. But of those who finally do put in the effort to come to this distinctive uptown pocket, most wonder what took them so long.
Even if you know nothing else about Harlem, you’re bound to have heard of the Apollo on W125th Street. Everyone from Jimi Hendrix
