MommyHumor

Apollo Theater: Amateur Night

Not for the weak hearted. My friend and I piled our daughters into a cab and headed North to 125th Street in Harlem to see some fresh new talent. The first time I went to the Apollo Theater,  I was only 21 and it was the first live music Award show I had ever seen. The Apollo has so much musical history and artists from all over the world have performed on that stage.

The one element of the evening which is a shock to the system is the immediate BOOOING that ensues the second the audience feels the artist lacks talent. My friend’s daughter feeling very compassionate for the performers, clapped louder and louder as the the audience booed with gusto and mocked the contestants.Then the talent police escorts the person off the stage. It takes a brave soul to come out on that stage and willingly open themselves up to that kind of communal critiquing. The last vocalist of the night hailed form New Jersey. This woman rocked the house….she belted out Alica Keyes #1 single “NO-ONE” and believe me “no-one” in the theatre didn’t clap and cheer her on. Perfect pitch and delivery of the song…Alicia would be proud. I asked my daughter if she would ever audition for Amateur night. She said, “I’m not that crazy yet!”.