"Amateur Night" at the Apollo, now 80 years young
It's an talent competition that's been around for some 80 years -- long before reality TV. Not all the amateurs who participate go on to stardom, but many of them do, and proudly say they got their start at the Apollo Theater. Anthony Mason is our ticket inside:
As a dentist in New York City, Dr. Matthew Hashimoto is an artist in other people's mouths. But he's also an artist with his own.
He has another identity: the other Dr. Hashimoto made his debut at Harlem's Apollo Theater two years ago.
Going up on stage, he said, was "intimidating."
He entered the Apollo's "Amateur Night" competition . . . and won.
"And after winning, and realizing that I'm part of this history at the Apollo, and seeing the other names that are on that list -- I still can't believe that it happened," he said.
The list of other "Amateur Night" winners include Billie Holiday, the Isley Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, and the Jackson 5.
Ella Fitzgerald was one of the first winners of "Amateur Night" in 1934. Her prize: $25 and a week's work.
Dick Parsons, chairman of the Apollo Theater Foundation, said "Amateur Night" began around 1934. "It's the oldest continuing amateur hour, amateur night, I think, in entertainment. And it's still part of the Apollo legacy now."
The 1,500-seat theatre on 125th Street opened as an entertainment mecca for Harlem's black community in 1934, and quickly became an incubator for African American talent.
Long before "American Idol," the Apollo's "Amateur Night" gave birth to the slogan, "Where stars are born and legends are made."
Gladys Knight was 15 when she and the Pips first played the Apollo. "We had heard so much about it," she told Mason. "It had a life all its own. It was [known] worldwide.
"We were so proud. We started off being the opening act because we didn't have a record back then. Well, 'Every Beat Of My Heart' had just come out. And it was flying up the charts. But we were an opening act and we didn't have but two songs! We did 'Every Beat Of My Heart,' and a song that the Drifters used to do called 'What You Gonna Do.'
"I can't believe we did that!" she laughed. "But we did. And that was it."
Knight took the stage again this month, as the Apollo celebrated its 80th birthday.
"What was it about this theater?" Mason asked.
"It was a proving ground," Knight said. "Because you learned so much here. They didn't just put you on stage; they critiqued you, and they gave you what you needed to get better.
"And that's how the Pips got into the dancing. And from there we just went. And before we knew it we were headlining. But I give that thanks to the training that they gave us right here at the Apollo."
Also performing that night with host Wayne Brady was a 13-year-old blind keyboard phenom named Matthew Whitaker, who played like the second coming of Ray Charles.
Whitaker won "Amateur Night" when he was just nine.
Contestants come from all over, and have to audition to get in.
Twenty-three-year-old Sung Lee is a "beatboxer," making music with his mouth -- and this year has won the first two "Amateur Nights" in which he's performed. "I want to win the whole thing, of course. But I've got my ways to go. Two more rounds."
A psychology major, Lee gave up his job in Las Vegas, to beat-box full-time in the New York subways. Not an easy crowd! "But if you really grab their attention with something special and unique, they'll stop for you," Lee said. "And they'll pay you."
At the Apollo, at least, he didn't have to compete with the trains. "But it's actually kind of similar," he told Mason, "because the audience is the judge, both for the Apollo and the subway."
Apollo crowds are encouraged to express their opinion, which is measured by a meter over the stage. Sung Lee scored a 91. If he can win twice more he'll be the annual "Amateur" champion -- and, like Dr. Matthew Hashimoto, will walk away with a $10,000 check.
"Oh, it was great," said Dr. Hasimoto. "Can pay off my student loans!"
Mason asked, "How thrilling was it to win at the Apollo?"
"I tried to make sure that I remembered every moment of it," he replied. "Just because it was one of those things that never in a million years do you ever think it's going to happen."
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For more info:
- Apollo Theater, New York City
- Apollo Theater Foundation
- gladysknight.com
- Matthew Whitaker
- Follow Sung Lee/Beatbox on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube
- Matthew Hashimoto
- "Good Lie" by Rexford (Matthew Hashimoto's band)