New York City's illustrious Apollo Theatre is undergoing a comprehensive restoration that will return the once opulent and intimate 1913 theatre to the grandeur of its 1940s heyday as the center of the Harlem Renaissance.
Canning Painting Studios is working with New York City based architects Beyer Blinder + Bell to implement the architects' Adamesque paint scheme. The collaborative effort requires that the team translate the scheme from theory and paper onto the interior surfaces. The fine tuning and adjusting that takes place during this stage is an essential part of the design phase for any project. Adjusting and balancing color and decoration to be effective in the overall space takes patience and flexibility - and attention to the principles of the Adamesque style*. Before installing the paint scheme, Canning staff repaired and restored the decorative plaster substrate in three representative areas designated to receive the mock-up treatment.
Along with the interior decoration, the restoration plan includes the exterior façade, and marquee. Some areas of the theatre will be updated. Issues such as lighting, stage mechanics, sound, and seating will be addressed by New York City based theatre consultants Fisher Dachs. Overseeing all of the subcontractors, and implementing necessary building code upgrades with respect to structure, wiring and sprinkler is general contractor Barr & Barr, Inc also of New York.
The team assembled to implement all phases of the Apollo restoration comes with formidable experience. Barr & Barr, Inc. built Radio City Music Hall originally and was selected to restore it decades later in 1999. Beyer Blinder + Belle were the architects charged with the voluptuous restoration of Grand Central Terminal. Canning Painting Studios worked on both Radio City Music Hall and Grand Central Terminal - applying over 90,000 square feet of metal leaf with glazes at Radio City, and conserving and restoring the sky mural at Grand Central. Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center and Radio City Music Hall (both in New York) are just two of the historic theatres that Fisher Dachs has consulted on.
From its early days as a burlesque house, to the 20s - 40s when it became the hub of the Harlem Renaissance, the Apollo has been home to legendary performers including Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Billie Holiday. In the 50s and 60s Stevie Wonder, Nat "King" Cole, Smokey Robinson, and Bill Cosby graced the famous stage.
Today the Apollo hosts a variety of events including the popular television show, It's Showtime at the Apollo, and Amateur Night a live, weekly show.
* For more information on the Adamesque style, refer to the Stadium Theatre article in the October issue of the Canning Chronicles posted in the archive section on our website. Click Here
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