More Harlem, more theaters.

This is 143rd Street and Lenox Avenue. The Douglas Theater had, depending on which of my sources is correct, either 600 or 2200 seats (which in 1935 expanded to 2300 which could indicate that an orchestra pit was covered over to add more seating but that is a great many seats to cover over an orchestra pit with). I am going with the source that lists the larger capacity because the smaller capacity source lists the theater as active only until 1922. The picture playing when this photo was taken is a Fox picture, directed by the great Raoul Walsh, from 1927. Around the corner, like the sign says, is the entrance to the Cotton Club.
In a space once used as a club by the legendary African American boxer Jack Johnson, The Cotton Club opened in 1923 after gangster bootlegger hoodlum Owney Madden muscled his way in and forced Johnson's Club DeLuxe out. Although the club launched the careers of too numerous to mention here African American entertainers, the Cotton Club originally had a "Whites Only" policy. Duke Ellington was the club's orchestra leader from 1927 to 1931, replacing the great Fletcher Henderson (if it weren't for him, Benny Goodman would never have become the "King of Swing"). During Ellington's tenure, the racist policy was relaxed. After Ellington left, Cab Calloway took over as the orchestra leader.
Eventually the club moved south, to 47th street in a building just north of Duffy Square (were the TKTS booth is located). The Cotton Club closed in 1940 and then Lou Walters Latin Quarter moved in. The building was torn down in 1989 for a hotel.

I know that this is a stretch and really this is Washington Heights but I am including it here because it is another theater lost and a loss to African American history. It was William Fox's Audubon Theatre of 1912. It was designed by the one and only Thomas Lamb. Named in honor of the naturalist James Audubon, this 2368 seat theater boasted a mural over the proscenium of George Washington leading the battle of Washington Heights. By the end of World War II the name of the theater and the language of the pictures changed. The San Juan had a Spanish Language film policy until it stopped showing movies some time in the late 1960's. It was ultimately torn down by Columbia University when they were expanding their medical facility. The facade was saved and restored and used in the new structure.

The Audubon Theatre had a ballroom in the building. The entrance was on the side. Even though the theater changed it's name, the ballroom remained the Audubon Ballroom and was forever etched in history in 1965 when Malcolm X was assassinated here while giving a speech.

Yet another lost theater on 125th Street

Harlem really starting developing in the late 19th century, as information about were the new subway was to be routed was leaked to those in the development arena. A great deal of Harlem, especially west of the New York Central tracks, was built nice. Like I have said the area close to 125th street, had a large number of theaters. There were theaters that are long gone in east Harlem, theaters that have survived as churches and theaters that are just sealed up. 125th Street was the magnet for all things entertainment. Oscar Hammerstein invested in this uptown theater district. His Harlem Opera House, discussed in earlier posts, opened in 1899 as a legit house, ultimately succumbing to vaudeville, movies and eventually the wrecking ball.
This is the Orient Theater. Located on 125th street just west of Lenox Avenue, it was in operation as early as 1915. It had a seating capacity of only 585. Usually, and I stress usually, a theater with a seating capacity of that size was not built with a stage. However, since my information on this theater is sketchy, it could have been built for legit then went over to motion picture exhibition. By the late 19th century and into the early 20th century you do not find many legit houses that size. There are exceptions and this not a hard and fast rule. There certainly were smaller legit and vaudeville houses and there were theaters with very large seating capacities that were built with out stages.
The picture playing at the Orient is Exclusive Story, starring The Group Theater's very own Franchot Tone. It is an MGM picture released in 1936. Loew's owned MGM but perhaps not this theater. It could have been a second run independent house.

New York Tours By Gary: Loew's Victoria on West 125th Street. A treasure w...

New York Tours By Gary: Loew's Victoria on West 125th Street. A treasure w...: 125th street was lined with theaters. Most of these houses where built for live entertainment. This is the Loews Victoria, built for va...

Loew's Victoria on West 125th Street. A treasure waiting for renewal.

125th street was lined with theaters. Most of these houses where built for live entertainment. This is the Loews Victoria, built for vaudeville and moving pictures. This theater opened in 1917 and it was designed by Thomas Lamb.
West 125th was not only the major commercial strip of the area it was also the border between white and black Harlem. The theaters along 125th catered to a white audience. In the early 20th century one never saw a person of color going into the Alhambra or the Harlem Opera House. 125th street was euphemistically referred to as "The Great White Way", "white" being the operative word. After some time, African Americans were admitted to the balconies. Very Jim Crow southern (not to mention reprehensible and out of step with the very nature of New York) in practice.
Eventually the neighborhood changed. The early 20th century saw some massive construction projects. The original 1904 subway line was being built and that sparked development were there had been not much before.  A large number of speculatively built brownstones and apartment buildings went up all over the Upper West Side and Harlem. In addition to the subway, the late great Pennsylvania Station was under way. The loss of a middle class African American neighborhood that had been displaced by the construction of the old Pennsylvania Station and the blocks close to the subway lines that would open along Lenox Avenue being extensively developed helped turn the tides and shifted the population. Landlords could not fill the apartments or sell off the brownstones.  A forward thinking African American real estate broker convinced the landlords of these big beautiful buildings, buildings that they could not fill as Harlem became over-built to a degree, to rent to African Americans. The landlords needed tenants, the displaced and newly arrived African Americans needed to be tenants.

This is the house left wall. These images were probably taken in the early 1990's. The theater was a single screen for most of it's life. In 1972 the house underwent a renovation and began to show first run films. In December of 1972 "Across 110th Street' starring Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto opened at the Victoria. Other similar pictures followed. In 1977 the Death of Loews Victoria was reported in The Amsterdam News. Loews could no longer operate the Victoria profitably and put it up for sale. After a multi-million dollar plan to restore the Victoria fell apart in 1988, it was not until 1992 that the Victoria was used again.
Retired New York City police detective, and owner of the landmarked James Bailey house on Saint Nicholas Place, Warren Blake took over and after another "face lift" reopened the Victoria as The Harlem 5. Mr. Blake, sensitive to the historical and irreplaceable aspects of this theater, had partitions put in to create 5 auditoriums that would leave no scars and could be easily removed.

Detail of the house right mural. The white sections are areas where there is water damage.

The house right boxes. The Victoria was built with, in addition to vaudeville, motion pictures in mind so the boxes were designed to not interfere with the image on the screen. When wide screen pictures became the norm, the stage was wide enough to accommodate a wider screen. The situation was the same at Loew's 83rd, the boxes remained until the theater was turned into a "quad" ; then they were in the way and had to go.

The projection booth. Unlike the Hamilton, the booth in the Victoria was part of the original plan and does not stick out like sore thumb/projection booth. The Victoria was built 4 years later and during that time, people accepted motion pictures as an inevitability.

This is the dome over the auditorium of the Loew's Victoria. It is missing it's chandelier but it could have been removed much before this picture was taken. In 1972, a benefit performance was held at he newly refurbished Victoria for the Dance Theater of Harlem. In a New York Times article about this star studded celeb-filled, sold out event called "They Came To Harlem in Ermine And Pearls And Jeans" there is a reference to the chandelier lowered slightly to give the theater a more intimate feeling. The Victoria remained in the hands of Loew's until 1977.

This is a very recent photo of the inner lobby (the same space as the picture below. The marble floor is being preserved with a covering of carpet. Warren Blake was the man who did the last renovation on this space and he was sensitive to historic preservation. In the ceiling, on the left and right sides of the center dome, there are decorative panels, probably stain glass panels covering the recessed lighting fixtures that appear ever so faintly in the previous picture but are missing here. I am hoping that Mr. Blake removed them, along with the auditorium chandelier and put them somewhere safe. I vividly remember round stain glass panels used extensively in Thomas Lamb's Loew's 83rd, particularly under the balcony overhang in the orchestra section, casting a subtle amber glow during the Movie.
In the picture is New York State Assembly Member Keith Wright. There has been much talk over the past few years about what to do with the Victoria. There was an attempt to include the Victoria in the renovation of the Apollo. There have been rumblings of a high rise hotel going up on the site that would include, depending on which version one hears and believes, different things. In one scheme, the entire auditorium would be saved and the space turned over to one of a cornucopia of non-profit arts group in return for tax breaks and zoning rules waved. In another plan, part of the theater would be saved and used as part of the lobby of the new hotel (this would also include saving the facade). The last and worst idea is just to save the facade and incorporate it into the new structure.

 This is the lobby earlier than the above picture.

The outer lobby with it's chandelier still there but not working. Harlem has seen a great deal of redevelopment over the past few years. However nice it is to have a Marshall's, Staples, an H & M and an Old Navy very close by, one must evaluate the cost. The price Harlem has paid is the loss of some historically important buildings, a loss to not only theater history but African American history as well. Always remember that "we will not be judged by what we have built, but by what we have destroyed".

 I found this picture while looking for more interior photos of the Victoria. The caption of this undated photo stated that this was at the Victoria, a Jitterbug performance. Given the eagle and flags in the background I would guess World War Two era.

More 125th Street and Weber & Fields West End Theater

Weber & Fields were very much part of the vaudeville and variety show world for decades. Both men were born in New York in 1867, both men were Jewish performers who removed (or tried to anyway) any trace of ethnicity from their names (Moses Schoenfeld became Lew Fields and Joseph Morris Weber dropped the Morris), teamed up and became one of the most successful acts of the 19th century. After many years of touring in circuses, variety shows and vaudeville, the duo the duo settled back in New York. Lew Fields had a theater named for him by Oscar Hammerstein (it was to be his final Times Square project) in 1904. Fields did open the theater with a successful production of Victor Herbert's It Happened In Nordland but the theater was a flop. Badly designed, cramped and full of building code violations, the theater changed hands too many times to mention. It was here, however, when the theater was owned by Harry Frazee, that Lynn Fontanne played her first starring role in 1921. Harry Frazee was not only a producer and theatrical agent but he owned the Boston Red Sox and traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1920. He claimed, then later denied, he did this to finance the Broadway production My Lady Friends which was the play upon which No No Nanette was based.  The trade by Frazee of Babe Ruth to the Yankees gave birth to The Curse of the Bambino which prevented a World Series win by the Red Sox for 86 years.

This is the West End Theatre. It was at the western end of the Harlem's Broadway, 125th street. It was built by a man named Meyer R. Bimberg, who was known popularly as “Bim the Button Man” for supplying customized buttons and banners to political candidates. The West End opened on November 3, 1902, in what was then a largely German Jewish and Irish Neighborhood. It was the built on the northern border of "white Harlem" and along the principle commercial street in the area and one of the world's most important entertainment meccas ever created. Within months of opening, Bimberg was been arrested for embezzlement and the theater was sold to the vaudeville team of Weber and Fields.
Never a hugely profitable venue, the West End was a high end vaudeville and subway circuit house. A large number of theaters in Harlem were on the subway circuit. In the early 20th century, before sound movies, way before TV, live theatrical presentations were the thing. To satisfy an ever increasing demand for new shows and to further and to satisfy the entertainment needs of the rest of the country, a Broadway show would play it's 300 performances then would move out to a neighborhood house (the previously mentioned Riviera on 97th street and Broadway for example) then would go out on the road. The Shuberts were among the big time Broadway producers who had lease deals with various theaters around New York City. According to the Shubert Archives, the West End was leased by United States Amusement Company, a Shubert-Erlanger vaudeville venture in 1907-08. From 1908 to 1912 it was booked as a part of the Shubert's "subway circuit" by the Sam S. Shubert Booking Agency.
Early headliners at the West End included the Four Cohans (which included George M.), the great African-American vaudeville team of Bert Williams (who W.C. Fields called "the funniest man I ever saw and the saddest man I ever knew") and George Walker and, in her final New York appearance in November of 1903, Adelina Patti, the Italian soprano.

This the West End Theatre today, however it is now known as the LaGree Baptist Church. I have peeked in through the doors on several occasions and the interior seems to be in good shape. As with too much of Harlem, a building such as this is not landmarked.
The West End stopped showing pictures in 1975. In the years prior to that, it was home to an African American repertory company (in the 1920's), in 1937 underwent a renovation and reopened with vaudeville and movies.
There was a Weber & Fields Theater in Times Square. It stood on 44th street between Broadway and 8th Avenue.  It did not last long as Weber & Fields. The Shuberts bought it and renamed the 44th Street Theater in 1913. The Marx Brothers performed Animal Crackers here in 1928 while shooting their first picture Coconuts during the day out at what is now Kaufman Astoria.

125th Street PART 3: The Harlem Opera House and The R.K.O. Alhambra

This is an early 20th century picture of the facade of the Harlem Opera House. Up until 1934, the house offered stage shows. Despite winning the Amatuer Night at The Apollo, Ella Fitzgerald was among the luminaries who graced the boards at the Harlem Opera House. As did the godfather of swing, local resident bandleader and arranger  Fletcher Henderson.  Henderson is credited with giving birth to Benny Goodman's style and making him "The King of Swing"
The marquee displays the names "Hurtig & Seamon". They are names more often associated with the theater down the block that became the Apollo, as they were the original owners. At some point after the 1889 opening, Oscar Hammerstein lost this theater (he had a bad habit of losing theaters) and Hurtig & Seamon took over. In the the late teens, the uber-powerful Keith - Albee took over.  By the mid 1920's Frank Schiffman took over the Harlem Opera House.  Schiffman was already a presence in Harlem,  having operated the Lafayette and in 1935 taking over the Apollo with Leo Brecher.
The facade shows two entrances. The main theater, in the center and then the upstairs (and smaller) theater for the "finest in moving pictures".

This is a program from March 16th 1904. The 16th is written in as the date March 14th is crossed out. The directors listed are Klaw & Erlanger, big time Broadway producers of the early 20th century (Broadway's very own Saint James Theatre was originally named the Erlanger). The owner appears to be someone named Lichtenstein. The name Hammerstein is not listed on this program. With the Apollo still 10 years away and the Victoria 13 years away, this was the second of the big important houses that made 125th street the entertainment center of Harlem. James Weldon Johnson in his book Black Manhattan referred to this theater district as the place where the African American actor was able to "finally make for himself a definite place on the legitimate stage of New York".  However, the change that was to come is still a few years away as this is an all white cast.

This is looking south on 7th Avenue from 126th street. On the right is The Alhambra Theater. It was designed by the architect who I have referred to as the Thomas Lamb of the late 19th - early 20th centuries, John B. McElfatrick. The original owner sold the theater soon after it's August 1905 opening to the almighty B.F. Keith circuit. It was vaudeville only until 1913 when movies were added to the program. Eventually this 1500 seat house became known as the RKO Alhambra. It now houses the D.M.V., a bowling alley and the Alhambra Ballroom.

According to his incredibly detailed records, Will Rogers performed here the week of January 25 1914 at the rate of only $350.00.  The Alhambra Theatre began as a vaudeville house called the Harlem Auditorium. The original builders ran into financial trouble and was purchased, finished and renamed Alhambra Theatre by Percy G. Williams, a vaudeville impressario of the late 19th - early 20th centuries.  In 1905, the variety house was sold to the Keith Vaudeville Circuit and named Keith's Alhambra Theatre.  As indicated by the ad above the audience that this theater catered to was white, 125th street was still the dividing line between "White Harlem" and "Black Harlem.  Two months earlier, in late August of 1913, Billy B. Van and the Beaumont Sisters the headliners at the Alhambra for a week.

This is the Alhambra today.  It was the premier of Lew Leslie's Blackbirds of 1926, starring Florence Mills and Bill Robinson, that transformed the house into one of the major African American venues of the 1920s. Performers such as Bessie Smith, Jelly Roll Morton, and eventually Billie Holiday, graced the stage and made the Alhambra a success. The premier of the musical Hot Chocolates in 1929, before going to Broadway, really pushed the Alhambra Theatre into the spot light of the Harlem Renaissance.  As what always happens, the depression comes along and these theaters start to slide. The Alhambra switched over from being a live theater venue to a vaudeville / movie house then to just a movie house.  The stage was used sporadically after World War II.  In January of 1950 the New York Times announced a return of vaudeville to the stage of the Alhambra.  The policy did not last.  To promote his new film “The Ladies Man,” Jerry Lewis appeared on stage at 27 R.K.O. theaters in the New York City area over a two day period.  The wonder and genius that is Jerry Lewis appeared at this theater on July 13, 1961 for some incredibly lucky people. On Friday January 26, 1962, the Three Stooges (the 1962 Stooges anyway) began a three day promotional tour for their latest picture, "The Three Stooges Meet Hercules".  It was while shooting this picture that Larry discovered he had diabetes; after an accident on set Larry was rushed to the hospital as a result of falling off a chariot and 250 pound Curly Joe DeRita falling on him and knocking him out.  The doctors said he was ok but found out he had diabetes.  The Stooges were accompanied by popular DJ Clay Cole, who was one of the stars of the double feature with the Stooge picture, " Twist Around the Clock".  The R.K.O. Alhambra no longer appeared in movie listings after a November run of the Taylor - Burton "Cleopatra".  It just sort of disappeared and faded away.

The Harlem Opera House lost it's stage shows by the mid 1930's. Even though big band shows were a feature at the Harlem Opera House, it was, for the most part, a movie house up until it was converted into a bowling alley as this photo from the early 1960's attests. It was called "Harlem Lanes", ironically the name of the bowling alley now located in what was the Alhambra. The structure that was the Harlem Opera House was torn down in 1969.

125th Street, one of the most important streets in New York City PART 2

This is just east of Park Avenue at 125th street. The structure in the center of the picture was once Harlem Hall. The photo is dated 1904 and the Harlem Hall now houses the Majestic Hall as well as a theater calling itself The Orpheum. It is referred to as a Loew's theater. The only Loew's Orpheum I could find is, the one we all new and loved as kids, on 86th Street between Lexington and Third. That theater, designed by none other than Thomas Lamb, opened in 1913.

This is 125th street on the west side Park Avenue, we are facing towards the east. The loss of the building on the corner is up there with the destruction of the old Pennsylvania Station, the Riverside, Riviera and Roxy theaters and the old Federal Hall (well, in 1842 no one thought about historic preservation). This the 1883 Mount Morris Bank Building. This was the only branch and the headquarters for this bank. Eventually the Corn Exchange Bank, a fore - runner of Chemical Bank, took it over. The major historical event that took place in this bank was when a Corn Exchange teller grew suspicious of a depositor’s $10 gold certificate. It turned out to be part of the ransom paid for Charles Lindbergh’s kidnapped infant son. The certificate was traced to Bruno Hauptmann, who was arrested within the week and eventually executed for the baby’s murder.
The building survived through the 1970's but by the late '70's the building was basically abandoned. The City tried to seal up the building by cinder blocking all the openings on the lower floors. As we all know, that doesn't work. In 1997 a fire took off the top two floors.

This is the building now. More like a nub of a building. I guess cinder block does last.  This building, in a much dilapidated state, was landmarked by the City prior to the devastating fire in 1997. Whether the building was abandoned by it's last owner or what, a restoration was not forth coming and the building had to be reduced to the nub it is today for safety reasons. I passed this building recently and it is still a nub, a landmarked nub.

This is the Harlem Casino. Some have said that this is / was the oldest theatrical building left in Manhattan. After that initial laying of the cornerstone on June 11th 1889, everything went wrong for what was going to be the West End Theatre. The theater’s owner and backer ran out of money soon after the cornerstone was laid and the foundation in place.

It turns out that the developer, A.H. Wood, who had built upon his self-perpetuating myth by designating himself “Napoleon” Wood, the theatrical wunderkind, not who he said he was. He was really named Charles Hahr, or Charles Morris, a known forger who had somehow managed to marry into a prominent family. Evidently he was accused of, but never indicted for, poisoning his father-in-law. He had hoped to speed up his inheritance from his wealthy father-in-law. At the time it was also discovered that Charles Hahr/A.H. Wood was the same man police were seeking in a series of unusual cases involving blackmail. Hahr’s practice was to observe trials in process at the police courts and wait for any information one of the parties would not want made public. Then he would visit the party at home, pretending to be a reporter who would expose any tawdry details unless a payment was made. Usually he asked for $100 but was willing to accept whatever he could get. My favorite con he would pull was to pay Harlem children to skip class, then to visit the parents of the children. Pretending to be a truancy officer, he would promise not to bring any charges if they gave him money.

The West End Theatre, meanwhile, stayed unfinished with only the foundation built. Eventually, a two-story market was put on top of it, and then, in the middle 1890s, the Harlem Casino – which became the Loew’s 7th Avenue and, later, the Greater Refuge Temple. So this building at 124th Street and 7th Avenue represents the oldest foundation for a theatrical structure in Manhattan.
Incidentally, in 1902 a theater with the name “West End” was constructed, on 125th Street near St. Nicholas Avenue. That building still exists today.

In 1910, future movie mogul Marcus Loew, who then resided on 111th and Seventh Avenue, acquired the Harlem Casino and converted it into a 1600 seat theatre for vaudeville and movies. All that remained of the old Casino were the exterior walls and the roof. The success of Loew's Seventh Avenue Theatre helped to finance the building of the larger and more sumptuous Loew's Victoria Theatre, which opened nearby on 125th Street in 1917. Loew's Seventh Avenue Theatre continued operating until around 1934, when it fell victim to the Depression.

Like many of the Harlem theatres (and Synagogues), it eventually became a church. As the Greater Refuge Temple of Christ it was ultra-modernized both inside and out by architect Costas Machlouzarides in 1966. Pretty trippy.

This is the Harlem Opera House. Opening in 1889 this theater was the work of architect John B. McElfatrick, who designed numerous late-19th century theaters around New York and theater impresario Oscar Hammerstein. Among those who performed on its stage during its early years included Edwin Booth, Lillian Russell and Sophie Tucker. Having been built for legit theater, the house went vaudeville then vaudeville and movies then just movies and finally just bowling.

This is the interior very early in the life of this theater. The location of this theater was just west of 7th Avenue on the north side of 125th Street. The block between 7th and 8th Avenues would, by 1917, be home to three of the biggest and most important theaters in Harlem. Built to hold just over 1500 patrons, the theater used both gas and that new invention electricity for lighting.

Another early interior view. By the turn into the 20th century, the Harlem Opera House was in the hands of Keith - Albee. By 1922 it was taken over by Frank Schiffman and Leo Brecher who eventually took over the Apollo Theater once the owner, Sidney Cohen, passed away. It was Sidney Cohen who saw the future of 125th Street and eliminated segregation policies but it was Schiffman and Brecher who got the world famous Amatuer Nights under way.

This is the marquee of the Harlem Opera House in 1934. The picture playing is a Universal Picture starring Lee Tracy, the actor who originated the role of Hildy in Ben Hecht's The Front Page when it opened on Broadway (Pat O'Brien played the role in the 1931 picture) A more enlightened and racially sensitive policy is shown as the vaudeville attractions cater to the ever increasing African American population of Harlem. It must be summer as it is "cool inside". The following year, 1935, Schiffman and Brecher take over the Apollo and to eliminate competition between the two theaters, vaudeville is eliminated at the Harlem Opera House (the Apollo was larger).

This is the marquee for Loew's Victoria. It was just west of the Harlem Opera House so all the photographer had to do was step back 50 feet. It is still summer, as it did not take that long to move the camera. Also you can tell it is warm given all the short sleeves. The picture playing is from 1934 as well. It is The Witching Hour, a remake of a 1916 picture of the same name. It was made at the very end of the "pre-code" era and was directed by (one of my favorites) Henry Hathaway. Henry Hathaway was one of those directors who (later in his career) liked to shoot on location. He shot some of the 1946 picture Dark Corner (starring Lucille Ball and Mark Stevens) here in New York. In 1945 he went to Washington D.C. and New York City to shoot The House On 92nd Street and he came back to New York to film (in it's entirety) the 1947 Kiss of Death.
The Witching Hour is on a double bill with a picture called Cheaters. This is a true "B" picture. It was made by Liberty Pictures (not Frank Capra's company) who made 24 pictures between 1927 and 1975. As the depression took hold, vaudeville was dropped in a great number of movie palaces. By the mid 1930's Loew's had begun to drop vaudeville presentations. The stages at the Paradise (in the Bronx), the 83rd Street, the Victoria and (for a few years anyway) even the big Loew's State in Times Square went dark.

This is the Marquee for the Apollo. Construction began in 1913 and the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theater was opened by 1914. It was built for vaudeville and burlesque. In late 1933 Hurtig & Seamon's New Theater closed for refurbishment. It reopened January 26th, 1934 as the Apollo Theater. The re-opening consisted of a full stage show and a movie. Movies played a small role through out the history of this theater, one of the most famous in the world. There was motion picture exhibition here over the years. In the 1970's, amongst other pictures that played the Apollo, a re-release of "The Wizard of Oz" had a run. On February 10th, 1939, the Apollo hosted the American premiere of "Big Fella," a British-made musical with two African-American stars, Paul Robeson and Elisabeth Welch. The Apollo's stage show for that week long engagement was impressive; top billed was Andy Kirk & His Orchestra, pianist Mary Lou Williams, singer Pha Terrell, and comedians Moke & Poke. As always, the Apollo also presented a Jitterbug dance competition on the Monday night of that week, and the soon to be world famous"Amateur Night" on Wednesday.
I have read that the importance of movies shrank at the Apollo over the years. Movies were shown prior to the renaming, during the silent era. I have also read that a good number of pictures shown at the Apollo were real "B" pictures, some of them awful. Someone once wrote that he believed that "awful pictures" were chosen on purpose to clear the house between stage shows.
It was not long after the renaming that the famous Amateur Nights began. On November 21, 1934, a 17 year old Ella Fitzgerald took to the stage. She was originally going to dance but changed her mind when she found out she was going to follow a dance act. She sang instead and the rest is history.

The marquee gives you the idea that this was a special theater, given the kind of acts that played there. Duke Ellington is headlining, Jackie Mabley was still singing and not yet called "Moms Mabley" and Geoffrey Holder was leading a dance company and not hawking 7 Up with it's "uncola nut" taste. Big name acts like Jimmie Lunceford, Sidney Bechet, Billy Eckstine, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Sarah Vaughn, Diana Ross and the Supremes, James Brown, Red Foxx, Richard Pryor, Buddy Holly and the Crickets (maybe the first "white act" to play the Apollo) and at least one Beatle (Sir Paul McCartney) have played the Apollo along with many other big names and thousands of not so big names.

This is obviously a recent, post restoration shot of the house. It was designed as a legit house by George Keister, a renowned theater architect who is represented on Broadway by the Belasco and whatever the old Selwyn Theater is called now. The decor was fairly restrained not overly ornate.

This is an undated photo taken obviously from the stage of the Apollo. The only caption found was that it was taken during an Amateur Night show.  The man with the gun (they are cap guns - don't worry) is probably Sandman Sims and he is chasing a not so hot singer from the stage at the urging of the crowd.  He would undertake this task with his blank guns and his dancing; Mr. Sims was a noted tap dancer.  As the audience appears to be made up of an African American and white mix, I am guessing that this is post World War 2 (when there was no more segregationist policies on 125th street) and pre - Vietnam as dictated by the and jackets ties on all the men.
In 1964 a young Jimi Hendrix took the stage during an amateur night and won.