The escalating controversy over Harlem’s famed Apollo Theatre is threatening to draw the curtain permanently on the showplace’s popular television show.
An investigation of the theater’s finances by state Atty. Gen. Dennis Vacco is preventing episodes of “It’s Showtime at the Apollo” from being taped for the TV season that begins in September, executives said.
All shows in the current season were taped last year by the show’s producer, Inner City Broadcasting, whose contract expired in December.
The nine-year-old show may be forced off the air if episodes are not produced soon, officials of the Apollo Theatre Foundation are predicting.
And Rep. Charles Rangel, the Harlem Democrat who chairs the nonprofit foundation, has warned that the theater itself may close if the show does not resume production quickly.
In a recent meeting with Matthew Sansverie, chief of the attorney general’s charities division, Rangel said that unless taping begins soon, “the Apollo Theatre cannot remain viable and will likely close its doors,” according to state documents.
The Apollo foundation cannot sign a contract with Inner City until the attorney general’s office finishes investigating whether Inner City owes the foundation $4.4 million, as the foundation’s controller has alleged.
Vacco also is investigating whether the foundation didn’t collect the money because of the close ties between Rangel and Inner City chief Percy Sutton.
Earlier this month it appeared the foundation had struck a deal to produce 12 new shows while the investigation continued. “We have no desire to see the Apollo Theatre close its historic doors,” Sansverie wrote in a letter to Rangel.
But the cameras never rolled because of a dispute over terms: Sansverie said the taping could proceed if Inner City put $300,000 in a special account to insure the foundation gets its proper share of the profits.
And foundation officials requested additional, undisclosed terms that were unacceptable to the attorney general, according to Vacco spokesman Mark Wurzel.
The issue has been further complicated by a recent bid for “It’s Showtime” from African Heritage Network, a rival television production company hoping to wrest the show from Inner City by promising the foundation at least $500,000 a year in profits.
That offer has given some foundation board members and the executive director, Grace Blake, second thoughts about a three-month extension for Inner City.
Frank Mercado-Valdes, president of African Heritage, described the extension offer as a “smoke screen to continue business as usual.”
Mercado-Valdes agreed that shows need to be taped soon to be ready for the fall season. He said African Heritage would be able to meet that schedule, while giving the foundation a much-needed cash infusion.
“I’m willing to go up there tomorrow with a check,” he said.