Podcasts about producer philippa ritchie

With Kirsty Lang. Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes' series about the Earl and Countess of Grantham and their household, has become a love it or hate it phenomenon of TV costume drama. This weekend the third series arrives, taking the Crawley family into the Roaring Twenties, with Shirley MacLaine as an outspoken mother-in-law. David Hepworth reviews. Sheridan Smith takes on Ibsen's dark heroine Hedda Gabler at The Old Vic Theatre, after her award-winning stage performances in Legally Blonde: The Musical and Terence Rattigan's Flare Path. Rachel Cooke reviews. The musician, songwriter and Talking Heads front-man David Byrne reflects on the influence of his Scottish roots, how small venues shaped the sound of his songs and the future of the music industry, as he publishes a book called How Music Works. As Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a cycle courier pursued across New York City by assorted bad guys in the film Premium Rush, Adam Smith charts innovations in the cinematic chase sequence, from The Spy Who Loved Me to Kung Fu Panda ll. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With Kirsty Lang. Ex-Monty Python Terry Jones and Oscar-winning composer Anne Dudley (The Full Monty) discuss creating "A Water-Bound Spectacle" inspired by Edward Lear's 1871 poem The Owl and the Pussycat. The poem has been given an operatic makeover and performances will take place on a barge. Two film releases this week take the audience on a 3000-mile musical journey across the USA. In the documentary film Big Easy Express, the British folk group Mumford & Sons join up with two other bands on a train travelling from California to Louisiana for a celebration of music and performance. And in a new Indie feature film The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best, two musicians take a road trip east to-west to take part in a battle of the bands. Music critic Kate Mossman reviews. With a week to go until the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics, with its British pastoral theme - the concept of film-maker Danny Boyle - Adam Smith imagines what the ceremony would look like if other British film directors had the chance to impose their own artistic vision on the event. Kneehigh Theatre's Emma Rice talks about adapting Galton and Simpson's scripts from the original TV series, Steptoe and Son, for the stage. The Play opens in Cornwall this weekend in Kneehigh's trademark tent , known as The Asylum, and moves to West Yorkshire playhouse in Leeds in September. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With Kirsty Lang. Singers Amy Winehouse and Katy Perry are the focus of two new documentaries. Katy Perry: Part of Me follows the American performer on tour, as her marriage to Russell Brand was ending. Amy Winehouse - the Day She Came to Dingle includes footage of the late singer performing in a small Irish church in 2006. Mark Frith reviews. Singer Sam Lee gave up being a visual artist, a teacher of wilderness survival skills and a burlesque dancer, to learn folk songs. He talks about collecting material from gypsy and traveller communities for his CD, Ground of its Own, and the sounds - including birdsong and drones - that he has added to his interpretations. As Damien Hirst announces plans to erect a 20-metre statue of a pregnant woman in Ilfracombe, and London City Airport unveils what is claimed to be the UK's tallest bronze sculpture, art critic Rachel Campbell-Johnston considers the continuing appeal of large-scale art. Salman Rushdie has described the American writer Joseph Mitchell as a 'buried treasure'. Working on the New Yorker from 1938 until his death in 1996, he specialized in portraits of eccentrics, workers, bohemians and their haunts. As a new edition of Mitchell's writings is published, writer William Fiennes and Janet Groth, receptionist at the New Yorker and a long-standing friend, reflect on why his work deserves a wider audience. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With Mark Lawson. Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes is the executive producer of a series of Shakespeare's history plays, filmed for TV. He discusses why he believes in bringing Shakespeare to the small screen, and also considers the similarities between the Bard and his next film project, the new James Bond film Skyfall. In the new film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, the 16th President of the United States discovers blood-thirsty vampires are planning to take over his country. The action horror film imagines Lincoln's secret identity as a vampire-hunter. Elaine Showalter reviews the film whose cast includes Rufus Sewell and Benjamin Walker. Lord Smith, former Culture Secretary, announces the winner of the £100 000 Art Fund Prize for museums and galleries, following the deliberations of his judging panel. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With Mark Lawson. Swiss writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt is probably best known for his play The Visit. Now director Josie Rourke has included his lesser known work The Physicists in her first season at the Donmar Warehouse. Mark considers Dürrenmatt's life and legacy with writer Jack Thorne, Josie Rourke, performer and director Simon McBurney, and Jerzy and Mary Olson Kromolowski who wrote the screenplay for The Pledge, a film based on the novella Requiem for the Detective Novel. Professor Green is a Hackney-born rapper who gained a reputation as a formidable performer after winning successive freestyle competitions. He went on to win MOBO and NME awards and has worked with artists including Lily Allen and Emeli Sande. He reflects on how his life has changed since entering the limelight. Mario Vargas Llosa won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2010, and today his latest novel, The Dream of the Celt, is published in English. Front Row examines the effect of winning the Nobel Prize on authors including Doris Lessing, Seamus Heaney, Toni Morrison and Harold Pinter. Producer: Philippa Ritchie.

With Kirsty Lang. Tracey Emin discusses how she feels about returning to her home town of Margate with an exhibition including new works conceived specially for Margate and exploring themes of love, sex and eroticism. In January 1937 in Peking the body of a teenage British girl was discovered, with her heart removed. She was the daughter of an ex-British consul and the crime, which shook both the Chinese and western community, was never solved. Writer and historian Paul French explains why he became obsessed by the story and how, 75 years on, he has come up with a solution to the mystery. Jason Solomons brings news from the Cannes Film Festival, as the jury prepares to announce the winners of the main prizes. Music and speech played an important role in the 1960s Black Power movement in America. Writer Pat Thomas has spent years tracking down rare recordings, which include spoken word discs from Motown's Black Power imprint. Music writer Kevin LeGendre joins Pat to consider how musicians and performers responded to political change. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With Kirsty Lang. Street of Dreams is a new arena musical based on Coronation Street, Britain's longest-running tv soap. Hosted by Paul O'Grady and starring cast members including Julie Goodyear (Bet Lynch) and William Roache (Ken Barlow), it opened last night in Manchester. Author and Corrie fan Livi Michael reviews. Anish Kapoor discusses Orbit, his towering steel sculpture for the Olympic Park, which was unveiled today. Kirsty ascends to the viewing platforms, and critic Richard Cork gives his verdict. The Proclaimers, Craig and Charlie Reid, discuss the inspiration behind their new album Like Comedy. As the Brighton Festival opens, Kirsty reports from a disused market, the setting for a drama based on a murder case from Belgium; and on a piece of waste-land at the end of the promenade, we eavesdrop on lovers in their cars. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With Mark Lawson. Very Important People is Channel 4's new sketch show which claims to reinvigorate the world of impressions. Performers Morgana Robinson and Terry Mynott discuss the physical and vocal transformations necessary to take on roles such as Adele, Bear Grylls and President Obama. The Brodsky Quartet, the British string quartet, celebrate their 40th birthday this year. As well as concentrating on the traditional quartet repertoire, they have also worked with Bjork, Elvis Costello and Paul McCartney. As they prepare to perform the complete Shostakovich Quartets this weekend, they discuss their work over four decades. Veteran playwright and director Edward Bond has been a controversial figure in British theatre, not least for his best-known play Saved, the violence that lies at the heart of much of his work and his outspoken views about today's theatre. As a UK premiere of a trilogy of his plays is staged in London, Bond gives a rare interview as he reflects on his theatrical career. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With John Wilson. Prima Ballerina Tamara Rojo will be the new Artistic Director of English National Ballet, it was announced today. She discusses what this means for her dancing career and how she intends to strike the difficult balance between choreographic innovation and balancing the books. The children's TV series Horrible Histories returned this week, offering a comic take on often gruesome parts of the past. Series producer Caroline Norris and actor Simon Farnaby talk about how they take inspiration from adult shows such as Blackadder, and the role of their musical numbers, including turning RAF fighter pilots into a dancing boy band. The new film Mozart's Sister argues that she - like her brother - was a musical prodigy, but was prevented from performing or composing because of the period's repressive attitudes towards women. Nicholas Kenyon, managing director of the Barbican Centre, London, reviews. Roger Ballen's photographs of working-class white South African life are renowned for their square, black and white format, and uncompromising subject matter. As a retrospective of his 30 year career opens at Manchester Art Gallery, he reflects on how he hopes his camera captures the souls of his subjects. Producer: Philippa Ritchie.

With John Wilson. Jessica Hynes and Douglas Hodge star in the four part TV drama One Night. Each episode takes the point of view of a different character during the course of a hot summer evening, as underlying social tensions and race issues come to the boil. Rachel Cooke reviews. John reports from Hastings, as the new Jerwood Gallery prepares to open its doors. The Gallery has provoked some local protests, and John sounds out current attitudes and meets the Gallery's director Elizabeth Gilmore. Blood on the Altar, by journalist and novelist Tobias Jones, tells the true crime story of the murder in 1993 of a teenage girl in the remote Basilicata area of Italy. The crime was only solved in 2010 in the light of a similar killing in Bournemouth. Tobias Jones discusses his fascination with the story and its Italian context. Producer: Philippa Ritchie.

With John Wilson. Antonia Fraser and Caitlin Moran have both recorded audio versions of their memoirs. They discuss the challenges of reading their intimate thoughts aloud. Bruce Springsteen's new album Wrecking Ball mixes his muscular rock with folk influences and a strong sense of anger. Kate Mossman, Reviews Editor of Word Magazine, gives her response to it. Today the National Gallery and the National Galleries of Scotland announced that they have found the funds needed to buy Titian's painting Diana and Callisto, saving it for the nation. John asks John Leighton of the National Gallery of Scotland whether the £45m price-tag represents good value at this time. Radio 4 is inviting you to nominate New Elizabethans - people who have made an impact on the UK from 1952 to today. This week Front Row is asking writers and artists for their suggestions, and tonight architect Amanda Levete suggests a man who's made a significant contribution to the urban environment around the world. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With Mark Lawson. Josie Rourke, artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse theatre, discusses her choice of first production, the lack of women running theatres despite a plenitude of acclaimed female directors and whether she's brought a woman's eye to the venue's décor. Conductor Alan Gilbert is Music Director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and is the first New York-born musician to hold the post. He reflects on his role, and on the experience of conducting his mother, who is a violinist with the orchestra. In the week that Angelina Jolie's controversial directorial debut was screened in Sarajevo, depicting Serbian atrocities during the Bosnian War, and Sean Penn has accused Britain of colonialism in deploying Prince William to the Falklands, actor Michael Simkins considers whether actors should speak out on political issues. A new exhibition focuses on the creative relationship between the artists Piet Mondrian and Ben Nicholson during the 1930s. Richard Cork reflects on how friendships between artists have influenced both their work and their reputations. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With John Wilson. Jon Hamm is best known for playing Don Draper in Mad Men, the award-winning American drama about the ruthlessly competitive world of advertising. The actor discusses the show's unforeseen global success, the problems he's faced playing Draper and hints where Mad Men is heading for its finale. A stage version of Singin' In The Rain opens on the West End stage tonight, featuring one particularly essential ingredient - water. John Wilson talks to the show's star, Adam Cooper, and the production manager about the technical challenges of singin' and dancin' in the rain - keeping electricity and gallons of water apart. TV property presenter Sarah Beeny has curated a new exhibition at the Royal Institute of British Architects. A Place to Call Home: Where We Live and Why charts the story of the design of everyday homes in the UK, exploring the advent of mass building from the late 18th century through to the present day via suburban expansion and post-war experiment. With the price of cotton remaining a hotly debated issue, a new exhibition uses contemporary artists such as Yinka Shonibare to illuminate the history of the production and use of this most versatile of natural fibres. Polly Leonard, Editor-in-Chief of Selvedge magazine, reviews. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With John Wilson. Ashley Walters made his name in the urban music collective So Solid Crew, before starting a successful acting career, including an award-winning performance in British film Bullet Boy. He's now starring in a new BBC drama, Inside Men. He reflects on how a prison sentence helped to get his acting career back on track. Katherine Kelly from Coronation Street stars as Kate Hardcastle in a new production of She Stoops To Conquer, Oliver Goldsmith's classic comedy of manners. This new National Theatre staging also features Steve Pemberton and Sophie Thompson. Rachel Cooke reviews. Howard Hodgkin owns one of the most important collections of historical Indian art in the world. As the complete collection goes on display for the first time at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, John Wilson talks to Hodgkin and to the curator Andrew Topsfield. In Man On A Ledge, a new film out this week, the majority of the action takes place high up on the outside of a Manhattan hotel. Film historian Ian Christie and critic Adam Smith consider the enduring appeal to film-makers of the vertiginous setting of the high-rise building, from Harold Lloyd in the '20s to Tom Cruise clinging on to the windows of the world's tallest building in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With Mark Lawson. Playwright and screenwriter Abi Morgan's recent credits include The Hour on TV and The Iron Lady and Shame in the cinema. Her TV adaptation of Sebastian Faulks' best-selling novel Birdsong begins on Sunday. She reflects on her approaches to writing for the screen and stage. Ralph Fiennes makes his debut as a film director with a contemporary version of Shakespeare's political thriller Coriolanus. Fiennes also takes the title role, with Vanessa Redgrave as his fierce mother Volumnia and Gerard Butler as his rival Aufidius. Andrew Dickson reviews. Singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen tells Mark how his new album Old Ideas was partly inspired by the responses of audiences around the world during his last tour. Mark Ellen reviews the disc, Cohen's first studio album for eight years. Antony Sher stars in Nicholas Wright's new play about the early days of cinema and the contribution of Jewish Eastern European immigrants to the Hollywood film industry. Peter Kemp reviews. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

Kirsty Lang reports on how puppets have entered the theatrical mainstream. She speaks to Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones of the Handspring Company, who made the puppets for the international theatre hit War Horse and to Joe Wright, director of the films Atonment and Hanna, whose new cinema version of Anna Karenina features puppets in a central role. Wright says all his films are influenced by growing up in a puppet theatre - the Little Angel Theatre in London. Kirsty pays a visit and meets Joe's mother, Lyndie Wright, who founded the theatre in 1961 with her husband John Wright. She also discovers an unexpected link between the Little Angel and the award-winning War Horse puppets. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With John Wilson. Historian Simon Schama has selected his pick of works from the Government Art Collection for an exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery. While hanging the exhibition, he reveals how his choices were inspired by the British romance with travelling. Dame Edna Everage, Ann Widdecombe and Vanilla Ice are all making their pantomime debuts this year. Danny Robins has seen all three and considers the qualities needed for panto success. A large crane has been lowering a new art project onto the roof of the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's South Bank today. Created by artist Fiona Banner and architect David Kohn, A Room for London is designed to look like a boat, and is going to be available for people to live and sleep in for a night. The Artangel/Living Architecture project will be there for the whole of 2012. John reports from the site. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With Kirsty Lang. Kirsty meets Broadway composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, whose hugely successful musicals include Godspell and Wicked, and whose 1972 show Pippin now receives a new British production. Steve Martin, Owen Wilson and Jack Black star in the film The Big Year, in which they compete to see who can spot the most species of birds in North America in one year. Comedian Alex Horne spent a year following his bird watching father and discusses whether the passion and paranoia on screen accurately represent the real world of birding. Arts Council England has just published Internships in the Arts, which suggests that arts organizations should pay young people working as interns. Martin Bright, founder of New Deal of the Mind, and Richard Mantle, General Director of Opera North, discuss whether theatres and galleries can afford to pay interns in these cash-strapped times. John Wilson talks to the artist Hilary Lloyd in his latest report on this year's Turner Prize nominees. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With Kirsty Lang. Tim Minchin describes himself as an Australian musician, composer, songwriter, actor, comedian and writer. He wrote the songs for Matilda: The Musical, the RSC's acclaimed adaptation of Roald Dahl's book about a girl with special powers. He discusses how he writes, and reveals how he fell into comedy by chance. Rihanna is releasing her sixth album in six years next week, while continuing her world tour. Her manager argues that her fans demand new material, amidst reports of unhappy arena audiences and criticisms of raunchy routines. Rosie Swash considers how stars can best sustain a career. Nigeria's Nollywood has the second largest film industry in the world by volume - yet very few African films make it into mainstream British cinemas. Gaylene Gould looks at why films such as District 9 from South Africa and Congolese gangster movie Viva Riva! have been successful internationally, whilst many critically-acclaimed African films only make it to art-house cinemas and film festivals. Gershwin's classic song Someone To Watch Over Me features on the new albums from Susan Boyle, Twiggy and Alfie Boe. It also appears every night in the musical Crazy For You, currently running in London. Gareth Valentine, musical supervisor of the show, analyses why the song is still popular 85 years after it was written. Producer: Philippa Ritchie.

With Kirsty Lang. Singer Michael Stipe and bassist Mike Mills from the band REM discuss what it feels like to 'call it a day as a band' after 30 years, 15 studio albums and 85 million albums sold. They reflect on their career in the light of a new retrospective double album called REM, Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage, 1982-2011. Artists including Tracey Emin, Rachel Whiteread, Howard Hodgkin and Martin Creed have created posters for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, unveiled today. Three of the artists reveal their inspirations, and Waldemar Januszczak discusses whether the new posters are winners. In a time of austerity, the TV schedules still find space for programmes about the super-rich. Boyd Hilton assesses the appeal of shows such as Billion $$ Girl, about the daughter of F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone, and Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With John Wilson. Brian Wilson and Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys reflect on their never-released album Smile, recorded in 1966 and 1967 and now made available for the first time. Brian Wilson remembers the destructive role drugs played in the creation of this legendary 'lost' album, and music broadcaster Paul Gambaccini assesses how it sounds four decades on. Steven Spielberg's new film is an adaptation of the Tintin comic series using motion-captured CGI with Jamie Bell in the leading role of the intrepid boy reporter. Naomi Alderman considers how well the Hergé characters translate into film. Peter Brook's 1964 production of Marat/Sade for the Royal Shakespeare Company caused huge controversy and public outcry. Now, as part of their 50th anniversary season, the RSC are restaging it. Has it retained its shock value? Andrew Dickson has the verdict. Producer: Philippa Ritchie.

With Kirsty Lang. Vermeer's Women, a new exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, features four works by the Dutch master, including The Lacemaker from the Louvre in Paris, on show in the UK for the first time. Tracy Chevalier, whose novel Girl With A Pearl Earring was inspired by a Vermeer painting, reviews the show. The actor Paddy Considine, known for films including In America, Dead Man's Shoes and Hot Fuzz, has written and directed his first feature film. Tyrannosaur is loosely based on Considine's own father, and stars Peter Mullan as a man plagued by violence and rage, whose life changes when he meets a religious charity shop worker. Paddy Considine discusses the film and the difficulties he faces coping with Asperger's Syndrome, diagnosed last year. Mohammed Hanif, Pakistan-born journalist and writer of the prize-winning A Case of Exploding Mangoes, talks about his new novel Our Lady of Alice Bhatti, the story of a junior nurse in downtown Karachi. He explains the art of being a sit-down comedian, and why Pakistan's secret service asked him to name his sources. Orlando Bloom, star of three Pirates of the Caribbean films, reprises his swashbuckling skills as the villainous Duke of Buckingham in a new 3D film of The Three Musketeers. He reflects on his experiences in major film franchises, and the perils of too many swords and sandals roles. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With Mark Lawson. Mike Leigh's new play at the National Theatre, Grief, didn't have a title until two weeks ago, but it still sold out months ago, such is the anticipation around a new Mike Leigh work. Secrecy surrounded the project and the cast, including Lesley Manville, Leigh's long-term collaborator, were forbidden to give interviews about it. Will it live up to expectations? Gaylene Gould reviews. Booker prize-winning author A S Byatt describes her life-long fascination with Ragnarok, the Norse mythological story of Armageddon, and explains her approach to re-working ancient gods for modern readers. Nirvana's Nevermind, Primal Scream's Screamadelica and Simply Red's Stars were all released in September 1991. All three albums made a huge impact in the 1990s, but two decades on have they stood the test of time? Caspar Llewellyn Smith and Rebecca Nicholson, music writers from different generations, give their verdict. What does postmodernism mean, and where did it come from? These questions are explored by the V&A's new exhibition, Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990. Author Lawrence Norfolk reviews. Producer: Philippa Ritchie.

With Mark Lawson. Jermaine Jackson discusses setting the record straight with You Are Not Alone, his memoir about his brother Michael. Comedian Steve Punt reviews No Naughty Bits, a new play about the Pythons' landmark 1975 court struggle to reinstate material censored by a US TV network. And KJ Orr discusses her short story The Human Circadian Pacemaker, in which a married couple adjust to the shift in their relationship after the astronaut-husband returns from a space trip. This is one of five shortlisted for this year's BBC National Short Story Award. The winning author will be announced live on Front Row on Monday 26 September. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With John Wilson. Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender star in a new film version of Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte's much-adapted book. Kathryn Hughes reviews. Alexander Masters, author of the award-winning Stuart: A Life Backwards, explains how he found the subject of his second book living directly below him. The Genius in My Basement focuses on the mathematical genius Simon P Norton, who collects bus timetables and lives on a diet of tinned fish. Damon Albarn recently led a group of British music producers to the Democratic Republic of Congo to make an album with Congolese musicians in Kinshasa. Damon came to Front Row along with two of his musical collaborators in the Congo, producers Kwes and Orlando Higginbottom, aka TEED. Can contemporary art help ease Ireland's economic woes? As the first ever Dublin Contemporary festival is launched, John asks Jimmy Deenihan - Arts and Heritage Minister in the Irish government - what he hopes to get in return for 2 million Euros of taxpayers money invested in the project at a time when the country has just received a massive bailout package. John also talks to veteran Irish conceptual artist Brian O'Doherty who now works in New York, but who is returning to create new work for Dublin Contemporary 2011. Producer: Philippa Ritchie.