{"id":17718,"date":"2025-09-10T16:58:25","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T20:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=17718"},"modified":"2025-09-10T16:58:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T20:58:25","slug":"episode-653-david-leopold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-653-david-leopold","title":{"rendered":"Episode 653 – David Leopold"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virtual Memories Show 653:
\nDavid Leopold<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/virtualmemories\/Episode_653_-_David_Leopold.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

Podcast: Play in new window<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/p>

Subscribe: Spotify<\/a> | TuneIn<\/a> | RSS<\/a> | More<\/a><\/p>\n

“Hirschfeld and Sondheim are two men of the theater who have theaters named for them.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>Curator and archivist David Leopold<\/a> rejoins the show for a wide-ranging talk centered on the amazing new HIRSCHFELD’S SONDHEIM: A Poster Book<\/a> (Abrams ComicArts). We talk about David’s decades as Hirschfeld’s archivist, Sondheim’s love of Hirschfeld’s work, the process of making his first book of Hirschfeld’s art that focuses on a single creator, the connections between Al & Sondheim in David’s text pieces for the book, and the joy of getting an intro from Bernadette Peters. We get into the work that the Hirschfeld Foundation<\/a> does for regional theaters, why the drop-off of arts criticism is a disaster for culture, how younger people experience and appreciate Hirschfeld’s art, and the time David held a seance at the Algonquin to promote the Hirschfeld Broadway Tarot<\/a>. We also discuss our all-time fave Prince songs, what it’s like being an archivist in a post-object world, the Steve Cohen magic performance<\/a> that blew his mind, his new exhibitions at the Studio of Ben Solowey<\/a>, how the next generation of theater organists (!) is getting trained, how aware Sondheim and Hirschfeld were that they were making history in their lifetimes, and more. Give it a listen!<\/a> And go get HIRSCHFELD’S SONDHEIM<\/a>!<\/p>\n

“Hirschfeld was in the New York Times on average every other week FOR SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS. And that represents less than half of his work.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n