The Apollo Executive Producer Kamilah Forbes To Step Down

The Apollo's Executive Producer Kamilah Forbes will step down at the end of the season, concluding a decade of  leadership at the iconic institution. She will continue to support the organization in an advisory capacity on select initiatives through the end of the season. She is stepping down to pursue independent creative endeavors for stage and screen. 

Under Forbes’s leadership, The Apollo expanded its artistic reach and reputation while remaining a beacon for Black artistic excellence and experimentation. During her tenure, The Apollo attracted both marquee and emerging talent and advanced its legacy for twenty-first-century audiences. She played a pivotal role in shaping the vision and strategy of The Apollo Stages at the Victoria—purpose-built theaters for artists—while expanding the institution’s presence locally, nationally, and internationally. Forbes also raised $10 million to launch the 21st Century Canon Fund, supporting the creation and preservation of new Black work for generations to come. 

“As we mark this transition, we are deeply grateful for Kamilah’s extraordinary contributions to The Apollo,” said Michelle Ebanks, President and CEO of The Apollo. “The care and artistry she brought to the institution have strengthened our artistic programming and deepened our cultural impact at a pivotal moment in The Apollo’s evolution. Her leadership, creative vision, and unwavering commitment to artists and community have left an indelible mark on The Apollo and the broader cultural landscape.” 

Among her many accomplishments, Forbes commissioned and presented landmark works, including the theatrical adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me, which she originated at The Apollo, toured nationally, and produced for HBO; as well as the New York premiere of the opera We Shall Not Be Moved. She commissioned more than 40 new multidisciplinary works, produced over 10 full productions, launched the master artist-in-residence program, and created the first-ever [at] The Intersection arts and ideas festival, featuring leading artists and writers including Barry Jenkins, Kerry Washington, and Nikole Hannah Jones. 

The Apollo will immediately begin a national search for its next Executive Producer/Artistic Director to guide the institution’s next phase of artistic strategy and programming as it moves toward the reopening of its Historic Theater and its next century.