New York City’s historic Apollo Theater first opened its doors nearly a century ago. Since then, it’s built a well-deserved reputation as one of the greatest live venues in the world, and has become a cultural haven for Black artistry across the U.S. and beyond. Then, in early 2020, the world stopped. But the team at the Apollo knew the music couldn’t. “When I think about the Apollo Theater, I think of it as an institution that has gone through many moons and many life cycles,” says Apollo executive producer Kamilah Forbes. “That speaks to the legacy of being representative of a resilient culture, right? African-American culture, Black culture, and American culture at large.” There was just one thing to do: keep the show going, and do it live. To pull it off, the Apollo team turned to Vimeo to kick off their fall season with a virtual concert featuring Wyclef Jean that still holds the title as the venue’s most-viewed digital stage event. Here’s how they did it.
Translating intimate performances to digital
“In February, we had no clue of what was to come for an institution in which social distancing is the antithesis of what we do,” Kamilah tells us. “What we do is bring people together, so this was not anything on our radar.”
In March of 2020, the Apollo theater was forced to halt in-person shows in light of new restrictions, but their mission to serve their local community and continue to cultivate a safe space for art was never far from their minds.
Go live with Vimeo
Since then, members of the Apollo team have worked to build a third, brand-new Apollo stage (“We have two in our building,” explains Kamilah) to host virtual performances. “The Apollo Digital Stage has served us well, because it’s allowed us to stay connected to the audiences and our community that we care so deeply about,” says Kamilah.
In partnership with ADCOLOR, the Apollo kicked off their all-digital Fall 2020 slate with a powerful concert featuring Wyclef Jean. The event, powered by Vimeo live streaming, was a dynamic, multi-camera live performance that drew a virtual crowd equal to 140% of the Apollo’s IRL capacity, and racked up nearly 40,000 minutes of viewing time. “I think Vimeo has always intrinsically been one of those artist-friendly, artist-driven platforms. I think us being an artist-driven institution, it really only makes sense,” says Kamilah.
New performance space, new possibilities
While the team at the Apollo continues to look forward to a less socially distanced future, they’ve also begun to witness something powerful: live stream events that make magic because of their digital format.
“We hosted a conversation with John Legend right after the Wyclef concert,” recalls Kamilah. “And there was an immediate comfortability in this digital space. I saw a different side of him as an artist, as an activist, as a leader, as a father, as a husband. I saw different facets of him that I’ve never seen before.”Now, the Apollo Theater utilizes their digital stage to host everything from amateur nights to major musical events. And they’re doing it all with the power of Vimeo live streaming. “Branching out into the digital space has allowed us to bring Apollo programming much farther outside of our reach for in-person programming, and reach new potential audiences,” adds Apollo’s associate director of marketing Kristen Hill.
Go live with ease.
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