Just in time for the Halloween season, The Al Hirschfeld Foundation hosted ‘A Spooky Season Soirée’ on Tuesday, October 22, from 5-7 pm, at The Algonquin Hotel, to celebrate the release of The Hirschfeld Broadway Tarot from Running Press Studio. Created by Emily McGill, a spiritual practitioner, tarot card reader, former Broadway publicist, and board member of the Foundation, the one-of-a-kind 78-card tarot set is the first ever to be inspired by Broadway musicals and the black-and-white line drawings of “characterist” Al Hirschfeld, who captured the stars and scenes from the NYC stage over an eight-decade career. The set also contains a detailed guidebook, in which McGill offers an interpretation and reading of each card, filled with references to the characters and plays depicted. Al Hirschfeld’s original typewriter on The Round Table at The Algonquin Hotel. Photo by Ray Costello. The invitation-only evening cocktail fête for the Broadway community – which included attendees Jim Caruso, multi-award-winning performer, recording artist, and host at Birdland Jazz Club; singer, songwriter, and actress Maxine Linehan; and Daniel Trujillo of the Artists Rights Society – featured stage and screen star Elizabeth Ward Land, introduced by David Leopold, Creative Director of The Al Hirschfeld Foundation, sharing her ideas about the significance of magic power, then singing the magical hit “I Put a Spell on You” from Hocus Pocus, accompanied on piano by Jason Liebson. Jim Caruso. Photo by Ray Costello. Maxine Linehan and Emily McGill. Photo by Ray Costello. David Leopold, Julie and Daniel Trujillo, and Emily McGill. Photo by Ray Costello. Elizabeth Ward Land, Jason Liebson, and David Leopold. Photo by Ray Costello. Elizabeth Ward Land and Jason Liebson. Photo by Ray Costello. Elizabeth Ward Land and Jason Liebson. Photo by Ray Costello. The musical number was followed by McGill doing a reading of two of the cards and interpreting how they relate to one another, after lighting a candle and summoning the spirits of The Round Table at The Algonquin – where Hirschfeld and a group of prolific writers, actors, and critics of the stage and screen (who called themselves The Vicious Circle) met daily for lunch for ten years, beginning in June 1919. McGill noted, “As a lifelong theatre kid and recent Columbia graduate with a Master’s in spiritual psychology, the opportunity to bridge two of my greatest passions has been a dream come true. My thesis focused on tarot’s efficacy as a tool for self-reflection, and this deck is the pinnacle of that research. Tarot enthusiasts, theatre people, and Hirschfeld fans alike will find something in the cards – they never lie!” Summoning spirits at The Round Table. Photo by Ray Costello. Emily McGill at The Round Table. Photo by Ray Costello. Emily McGill reading the tarot cards. Photo by Ray Costello. Among the Hirschfeld images chosen for the deck (and provided by the Foundation) are West Side Story’s Maria and Tony on The Lovers card and Les Misérables’ Jean Valjean on the Justice card, Sky Masterson and Sarah Brown from Guys and Dolls, Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady, Dolly Gallagher Levi from Hello, Dolly!, and Jud Frye from Oklahoma!, along with such Broadway luminaries as Stephen Sondheim, Eva Le Gallienne, Bob Fosse, Joe Papp, and Hirschfeld himself. Photo courtesy of The Al Hirschfeld Foundation. According to Leopold, “Hirschfeld would have undoubtedly been tickled to see his art used in this fashion. The Line King would surely have Emily as the wizard in his court. She has looked at all of Broadway, past and present, and like Hirschfeld, found the characters that tell the story of the tarot. The Al Hirschfeld Foundation is always open to seeing his art used in new and interesting ways, and this tarot deck certainly fits the bill.” David Leopold. Photo by Ray Costello. The Hirschfeld Broadway Tarot is now available to order from Running Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Bookshop, and Walmart. Photo courtesy of The Al Hirschfeld Foundation. Emily McGill, The Hirschfeld Broadway Tarot (New York: Running Press Studio, 2024), 78-card deck, 111-page guidebook, ISBN 9780762486984, $30.00.