Front Row: Archive 2011

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.

Lenny Henry was acclaimed when he made his stage debut as Othello, and now he returns to Shakespeare as Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors, in a new production at the National Theatre. Rachel Cooke reviews.

Comedy performer and actor Rob Brydon reflects on his career so far, including his first appearance in a play, starring alongside Kenneth Branagh in Belfast earlier this year. He also recalls an awkward encounter with Harold Pinter.

Charlie Brooker's latest project is Black Mirror, described as a dark trilogy of twisted tales about the power of technology in the 21st century. In the first episode of the TV drama, The National Anthem, written by Brooker, the Prime Minister finds himself forced to consider how far he would go for his country. Matt Thorne gives his verdict.

And John Wilson talks to the artist Martin Boyce in his latest report on Turner Prize nominees.

Producer Jerome Weatherald.

With Mark Lawson.

Ricky Gervais discusses the response to his TV comedy series Life's Too Short, which stars Warwick Davies as a "showbiz dwarf", and his return as host of the Golden Globes, following this year's insult-packed ceremony.

Choreographer Wayne McGregor and composer Mark-Anthony Turnage discuss their new collaboration, Undance, inspired by the 19th Century photographer Eadweard Muybridge.

Wealth-creation gurus are the focus of a new three-part documentary series Money by the film-maker Vanessa Engle. Lucy Kellaway of the Financial Times reviews the series alongside Channel 4's documentary The Ultimate Guide to Penny Pinching, about the UK's thriftiest people.

And in the first of a series of interviews with the four artists contending for this year's Turner Prize, John Wilson meets sculptor Karla Black.

Producer Timothy Prosser.

Martin Scorsese has directed his first film in 3D. Adapted from the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, Hugo is the tale of a boy who lives in a Paris railway station in the 1930s, and features Ben Kingsley, Jude Law and Sacha Baron Cohen. Naomi Alderman reviews.

The winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2011 is announced today. Mark interviews all seven shortlisted authors, whose books cover a range of sports including football, rugby, cycling, running and bullfighting, and the winner of the £27,500 prize responds to the judges' verdict.

The death of the film-maker Ken Russell was announced today. He was 84. Critic Mark Kermode reflects on Russell's life and career, and there's another chance to hear Ken Russell himself discussing his home movies and his opinions on the film industry, from a Front Row interview recorded in 2008.

Producer Nicki Paxman.

With Kirsty Lang.

Shakespeare scholar Eric Rasmussen has spent the last decade tracking down every extant copy of one of the world's most sought-after books: Shakespeare's First Folio. With fewer than 750 printed in 1623, the first edition of Shakespeare's collected works has proved a magnet for thieves, forgers and eccentric collectors ever since. Eric Rasmussen discusses what his quest revealed.

Essex, Chelsea and Newcastle have all been settings for so-called scripted reality TV shows in recent months. The latest place to get the reality treatment is Liverpool, with two planned series about Merseyside life. The first is E4's Desperate Scousewives which follows the blingtastic lives of Liverpool's most glamorous residents. Boyd Hilton reviews the programme and reflects on the scripted reality phenomenon.

A new generation of book events is attracting new and younger audiences to hear novelists read their work. Organisers of events in London, Glasgow and Cornwall, as well as best-selling writer David Nicholls, discuss how these literary night clubs are changing attitudes to books and driving sales during a tough period for the publishing industry.

Fyfe Dangerfield is best known as the lead singer of the band The Guillemots. Now he's creating the score for a stage version of Howl's Moving Castle. He explains how he captured the eerie mood of the book and why he never set out to be a singer.

Producer Katie Langton.

With Kirsty Lang.

Film-maker Terence Davies has adapted and directed The Deep Blue Sea, based on the play by Terence Rattigan. It stars Rachel Weisz as a woman who walks out on her husband and her comfortable life, to move in with a young former RAF pilot. Peter Kemp give his verdict.

As piano duo Katia and Marielle Labèque embark on a three day festival celebrating minimalist music, they discuss whether sisterhood is useful when sharing a piano, and why minimalism has a lot in common with rock and roll.

To mark four decades of Newsround, the children's news programme will receive a special Children's BAFTA award this weekend. John Craven, its original presenter, reflects on it covering difficult events such as the Challenger shuttle disaster and the arrest of murderer Fred West.

Pixie Lott's new album has a track which includes a harmonica solo by Stevie Wonder. It's the first time the two artists have worked together, though Stevie Wonder's distinctive harmonica-playing has featured in a host of songs by other musicians. David Quantick considers the art of the harmonica solo.

Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson

As he releases an album of his favourite songs, Sir Bruce Forsyth reflects on seven decades in show business, from duetting with Nat King Cole at the Palladium to his pre-show nerves at last weekend's Wembley Arena edition of Strictly Come Dancing.

Brad Pitt stars in Moneyball, a new film written by West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin. Pitt plays the manager of a low-budget baseball team who uses computer data to identify the best players. Eleanor Oldroyd reviews.

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is about to open six new galleries for its collections from Ancient Egypt and Nubia. The new displays more than double the number of mummies and coffins on show, bringing to light items kept in the stores for more than half a century. John takes a tour of the new galleries with the project's curator Liam McNamara.

Producer Ellie Bury.

With John Wilson.

Kate Bush talks about 50 Words for Snow, her first album of brand new material for six years. She discusses her fears about the demise of the album as a format, and reveals that she is already working on new songs.

The film My Week With Marilyn stars Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe and Kenneth Branagh as Laurence Olivier. It tells the story of Colin Clark's experiences working in a lowly position on the set of The Prince And The Showgirl, which disastrously paired Monroe and Olivier. Antonia Quirke gives her verdict.

This week sees the publication of what's billed as Jack Kerouac's 'lost' novel, The Sea Is My Brother. 2011 has also seen 'lost' works by C S Forester, Daphne du Maurier and Arthur Conan Doyle arrive in our bookshops. Benedicte Page, associate editor of The Bookseller, explains why publishers are so keen on tracking down missing texts.

Producer Georgia Mann.

With Kirsty Lang

The Riots, a new play by Gillian Slovo, draws on 55 hours of interviews with people who were involved in the disturbances earlier this year, ranging from policemen to the rioters themselves. She reflects on whether theatre can help to uncover the truth behind the unrest.

A sound designer won the prize for Best Design at last night's Evening Standard Theatre Awards, winning against three set designers. Adam Cork discusses the soundscapes he created for productions including Derek Jacobi's King Lear.

Resistance is a new film based on a novel by Owen Sheers, which imagines that Britain is under Nazi occupation. In a Welsh valley, the farmers' wives wake up one morning in 1944 to discover that all their men have disappeared. Mark Eccleston reviews.

Oliver Messel was perhaps the most celebrated theatrical designer Britain has ever produced. His white-on-white design in 1932 for Helen, an updating of Offenbach's operetta, caused a sensation not just on stage but in the world of fashionable society, when people began painting their walls white - a previously unused colour in interior design. Thomas Messel, Oliver's nephew, has edited the first-ever study of Messel's complete work and explains why his uncle's approach was so new.

Producer: Lisa Davis.

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.