Apollo Hosts A Special Conversation with Black Panther Star Chadwick Boseman & Ta-Nehisi Coates 2/27

As Black Panther continues to land rapturous praise and smash box office records in its opening days, the Apollo Theater in collaboration with The Atlantic will present a discussion about the film with its star Chadwick Boseman in conversation with The Atlantic's national correspondent and author Ta-Nehisi Coates. The event will take place on Tuesday, February 27 at 7:30PM EST at the Apollo.

As part of this initiative, the Apollo and The Atlantic are making courtesy tickets available to a number of Harlem organizations where they will screen the film at the AMC Harlem 9 before proceeding to the Apollo's famed stage for the conversation featuring Boseman and Coates. In addition to community groups, tickets for the panel discussion will go on sale to the general public this Friday, February 23 at 10AM EST. Ticket information is below.

Additionally, Afropunk, the culture collective and presenter of global arts festivals, will participate as a marketing partner.

Black Panther, which has been heralded as embracing diversity in film and encouraging critical conversations about the state of the current cinematic landscape, provides a significant topic of discussion for both the Apollo Theater's Harlem stage and The Atlantic. This event continues The Apollo's long history as a facilitator and community convener for conversations on important, socially and culturally-relevant issues to Harlem, New York, and the nation. Similarly, throughout its 160 years, The Atlantic has been a vehicle for the most urgent writing on matters of race, justice, and equality-and has sparked global conversation on the most consequential issues of our time.

"We are delighted to welcome Chadwick and Ta-Nehisi to the Apollo to build upon the already-burgeoning conversation about this important film," said Apollo Theater Executive Producer Kamilah Forbes. "The Apollo has always been an important convener for the Harlem community, and the cultural phenomenon around Black Panther is an incredibly relevant and rich topic for discussion that directly addresses the representation of black people in everyday media-something that is substantial not only for our Harlem neighborhood, but for our country at large."

This special event is open to press. To request a press seat, please contact the Apollo or The Atlantic media leads below.

Boseman stars as T'Challa, the first black superhero in the Marvel franchise-a performance which, like the film, is receiving nearly universal acclaim. Boseman will be interviewed by Coates, national correspondent for The Atlantic and current scribe of Black Panther comics, whose writing and depiction of the fictional African nation of Wakanda influenced the film.

In a piece on the power and provocation of the Black Panther, The Atlantic's Vann Newkirk wrote that "the very idea of a global African diaspora creates the most fertile of grounds for a field of what-ifs. ... On a deeper level, the fictional African nation of Wakanda is the same Atlantean archetype that has always haunted this diaspora. And like all variations on that archetypal story, Black Panther is a fantasy about black power."

TICKET INFO

Tickets for Black Panther in Conversation are on sale tomorrow, Friday, February 23 at 10:00AM EST and are available at the Apollo Theater Box Office, 253 West 125th Street, and Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000or www.ticketmaster.com. All tickets are $20.00 general admission seating. Additional service fees for online and phone orders will apply.

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About The Apollo Theater

The legendary Apollo Theater-the soul of American culture-plays a vital role in cultivating emerging artists and launching legends. Since its founding, the Apollo has served as a center of innovation and a creative catalyst for Harlem, the city of New York, and the world.

With music at its core, the Apollo's programming extends to dance, theater, spoken word, and more. This includes special programs such as the blockbuster concert Bruno Mars Live at the Apollo, 100: The Apollo Celebrates Ella, the annual AFRICA Now! Festival, and the recent New York premiere of the opera We Shall Not Be Moved. The Apollo is a performing arts presenting organization that also produces festivals and large-scale dance and music works organized around a set of core initiatives that celebrate and extend the Apollo's legacy through a contemporary lens; global festivals including the Women of the World (WOW) Festival and Breakin' Convention, international and U.S.-based artist presentations focused on a specific theme; and Special Projects, multidisciplinary collaborations with partner organizations.

Since introducing the first Amateur Night contests in 1934, the Apollo Theater has served as a testing ground for new artists working across a variety of art forms and has ushered in the emergence of many new musical genres-including jazz, swing, bebop, R&B, gospel, blues, soul, and hip-hop. Among the countless legendary performers who launched their careers at the Apollo are D'Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Machine Gun Kelly, Miri Ben Ari, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Gladys Knight, LUTHER Vandross, and Stevie Wonder; and the Apollo's forward-looking artistic vision continues to build on this legacy.

About The Atlantic

Founded in 1857 and today one of the fastest growing media platforms in the industry, The Atlantic has throughout its history championed the power of big ideas and continues to shape global debate across print, digital, events, and video platforms. With its award-winning digital presence TheAtlantic.com and CityLab.com on cities around the world, The Atlantic is a multimedia forum on the most critical issues of our times-from politics, business, urban affairs, and the economy, to technology, arts, and culture. The Atlantic is celebrating its 160th anniversary. Bob Cohn is president of The Atlantic and Jeffrey Goldberg is editor in chief.

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