ELLA FITZGERALD - APOLLO THEATER LAUNCHES EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM FOR KIDS

APOLLO THEATER LAUNCHES EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM FOR KIDS

The New York theatre which launched the careers of music legends ELLA FITZGERALD, SARAH VAUGHAN and STEVIE WONDER has created an educational program for public school children.
The Apollo Theater Foundation has teamed up with the city's prestigious Columbia University to create an oral history of the famed Harlem venue.
The Apollo Theater Oral History Project will feature interviews with performers, cultural figures and politicians who vibrated Harlem as it became one of the Big Apple's cultural centres.
A university spokesperson calls The Apollo "the living legacy of the Harlem Renaissance - an enduring beacon of hope and vitality in our times".
Foundation president Jonelle Procope adds: "We want to document the Apollo's legacy and its place in American popular culture and African-American history and music. It allows us to begin talking to a range of people who were connected to the Apollo and its history."
The project - landmarking the theatre's 75th anniversary - is scheduled to be completed in 2010.