The much-anticipated National Museum of African-American History and Culture - set to open in 2015 on the National Mall - will feature a special exhibit dedicated to Harlem's world famous Apollo Theater. Strangely enough, it will be Apollo's first exhibit in a museum.The show, "Showtime at the Apollo," launched the careers of musical heavyweights, such as Luther Vandross (though legend has it that he was booed off), Michael Jackson, The Jackson Five, Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross & the Supremes and even contemporary artists like Lauryn Hill. For many years, the Apollo was the only theater in New York to hire black talent.

Items like Michael Jackson's fedora, Ella Fitzgerald's yellow dress (pictured above) and Louis Armstrong's trumpet are on display currently in a Smithsonian exhibit that celebrates the Apollo Theater, with about 100 items on view.

"When I was growing up, the Apollo was for us our Radio City Music Hall - it was the theater to play in our community," said singer and actress Leslie Uggams, 66, who toured the exhibit Tuesday. "From the time I was 9 until about 16, I played the Apollo with some of the great, great stars - Ella [Fitzgerald], Diana [Ross], you name them."

The exhibit will be on view through August in Washington before traveling to Detroit's Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and the Museum of the City of New York.

The Apollo fell in to disrepair in the 1970s and was turned into a movie theater before former Manhattan Borough President Percy E. Sutton purchased the building in 1983. It obtained federal, state and city landmark status and fully re-opened in 1985.

As of 2009, it is run by the nonprofit Apollo Theater Foundation Inc. and draws an estimated 1.3 million visitors annually.

Soul group Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings sold out their upcoming show at the Apollo most recently on April 30th and added another show on May 1st.

Here's my question, though, why doesn't the Apollo garner the same public attention as "American Idol," when it comes to grooming new talent?