Patrick Hoffman, Director of Theatre on Film and Tape Archive, to Retire

Patrick Hoffman, the longtime curator and director of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, will retire from that position as of January 10, 2025.

Hoffman has been associated with the archive for more than three decades. Founded by Betty L. Corwin in 1970, Hoffman joined her team in 1992 and formally succeeded her as its leader in 2001. In his 23 years at the helm, he captured 1,229 productions on and off-Broadway, and across the country, including Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick in The Producers, Mike Nichols’s Delacorte Theater production of The Seagull starring Meryl Streep, and, more recently, Stephen Sondheim and David Ives’s Here We Are, Cole Escola’s Oh, Mary!, and hundreds of others.

In addition, Hoffman oversaw the archive’s transition from analog to digital video, curated the 50th anniversary exhibition Focus Center Stage in 2022, and led countless talks and school groups. He is also a nominator and board member of the Outer Critics Circle Awards.

Regarding his retirement, Hoffman said in a statement “It has been an honor and privilege to have preserved the diversity and depth of theatre productions now in the TOFT Archive. It is a collection and legacy of which I am immensely proud.”