Oral history interview with Charlotte ("Charlie") Sutton, 2009

Biographical Note

Former production manager, Apollo Theater

Scope and Contents

Background: born in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn; childhood Brooklyn and Queens; education: 1 year at Fashion Institute of Technology, NY; career: The New York Courier with former husband and borough president Pierre Sutton; post-production television, Reeves Teletape (NY); arrival at Apollo Theater in mid-1980s; Directors Guild of America stage manager; two seasons, The Cosby Show; box office and production at Apollo; jewelry design; themes: Harlem in 1970s; controversy involving Percy Sutton and Inner City Broadcasting; understanding social injustices through lens of past and present; audience integration of Apollo; reminiscences of performers such as Michael Jackson, Phyllis Hyman, James Brown; anecdotes from programming such as Motown Returns to the Apollo and the Jewel Box Revue; sentiments toward controversial programming at Apollo

Subjects

• Apollo Theater (New York, N.Y. : 125th Street)
• Rowland, Steve, interviewer.--http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/ivr
• Sutton, Charlotte--Interviews.
• Theatrical producers and directors--New York (State)--New York--Interviews.

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Trustees of Columbia University of the City of New York and the Apollo Theater Foundation, 2010