APOLLO’S ‘NEW’ STORY
Author on Harlem landmark pens graphic novel for younger audience
Ted Fox is the guy who wrote the book on the Apollo Theater — and now, nearly four decades later, that work is getting new life.
The author of 1983’s “Showtime at the Apollo: The Story of Harlem’s World Famous Theater,” has teamed up with artist James Otis Smith for “Showtime at the Apollo: The Epic Tale of Harlem’s Legendary Theater” — now available as a graphic novel.
“My main goal for the graphic novel was to bring the incredible and important tale to a new, younger, broader audience who love this format and may not have seen the original book,” Fox told the Daily News this week.
“I’ve lectured and talked about the Apollo for about 40 years and I’m always looking for new ways to tell its remarkable story,” added the former manager for musician Buckwheat Zydeco.
Although his first book is recognized as the definitive and only full-scale history of the Harlem showplace, the inspiration for a reimagined take on his source material came from his daughter.
“A light bulb sort of went off over my head: ‘Ooh, “Showtime at the Apollo” as a graphic novel … Perfect!’ ” he said.
The paperback consists of 224 pages, including an index, and also has online learning tools, including a teacher’s guide and 129song playlist inspired by it.
“If I was going to do this as a graphic novel, I wanted it to be visually compelling and beautiful, but also to tell the Apollo’s whole decadeslong and incredibly deep and exciting tale in a way that didn’t skimp on any part of the story, its context to its times, and the evolving African-American experience,” he said.
Today, the 125th St.-based venue has a near-mythical status and remains a top destination for some of the biggest names in entertainment and burgeoning artists.
Through its bluish, black and white artwork, the book illuminates the Apollo’s significance in music history, African-American history and urban culture.
It opens by shining a light on recent moments such as then-President Barack Obama bellowing Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” at a 2012 fund-raiser, Paul McCartney performing in 2010, and Chris Rock taping his HBO standup special in 1999.
Smith, a Sarah Lawrence College alum based in Brooklyn whose work spans illustration, comics, motion graphics and video, was thrilled when he was asked to be part of the “Showtime” project. It is his first graphic novel.
“I hope that the people who made that place what it is can feel the respect we have for what they did,” Smith said.