Samuel West - Christmas Compendium, Apollo Music Projects and the Arts Index

Sam will be a guest at tomorrow's performance of Brian and Robin's Christmas Compendium of Reason (via @robinince).
He is listed as the presenter (subject to availability) for an Apollo Music Projects fundraising concert on 10 June 2014. Booking details are at the Cadogan Hall website.

To coincide with the recent release of Britten to America, NMC Recordings have shared a video of Mark Elder discussing Britten's work for radio and Sam's approach to narration (via @nmcrecordings).
Below is a selection of comments about Nocturne (2 November, Temple Church) from Twitter.

Nocturne - Life of Frederic Chopin with @LucyParham @exitthelemming & Juliet Stevenson at @templemusicfdn My review: http://t.co/1uLKPLXUIV— Robert Hugill (@RobertHugill) December 3, 2013	@LucyParham @exitthelemming & Juliet Stevenson, thank you for Chopin/Sand marvellous evening of solace for the soul — Sophie Goldspink (@sophiejg) December 2, 2013
SUPERB end to our season last night. Exquisite playing by @LucyParham and wonderful story telling from @exitthelemming and Juliet Stevenson. — Temple Music (@templemusicfdn) December 3, 2013	@templemusicfdn a wonderfull concert. Juliet Stevenson @exitthelemming & @LucyParham brought it to life. Thanks — David Hughes (@DavidHu93551448) December 2, 2013

The 2013 Arts Index was released last week by the National Campaign for the Arts (via Sam's Twitter, @exitthelemming). Sam, the chair of the NCA, wrote the foreword to the report - a modified version is on the Guardian website. The Guardian has also published an interview with Sam about fluctuations in the Index's performance indicators (via @PaulChahidi).

Helen Lederer, Anton Du Beke and Sam (pictured here) were among the readers at the Asthma UK Carol Service on 3 December.
The National Youth Arts Trust was launched on 12 November. Its patrons include Sam, Hugh Bonneville, Derek Jacobi, Stephen Mangan and David Morrissey.
Sam recorded an endorsement for Brass Factor. The competition was held in Harrogate and Holmfirth in November.

Theatre - The Children's Monologues. GQ Men of the Year Awards. Toronto International Film Festival. BBC Radio.

• On Sunday 14 November at the Old Vic, Gemma Arterton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Romola Garai and Hattie Morahan will perform in The Children's Monologues directed by Danny Boyle. The event is a fundraiser - proceeds will go to the Pete Patsa Arts Centre. (via sherlockbbc) [link]
  
  
• Guests at the GQ Men of the Year Awards (7 September) included Hayley Atwell (presented the award for the Smirnoff Black Most Stylish to Aaron Johnson), Gemma Arterton (winner, Woman), Martin Scorsese, Emily Mortimer and Matt Smith (winner, TV personality).
• Pictures from Rex Features 1|2|3
• Articles:
  Vogue [link]
  GQ [link]
• Videos by elizabethtoni 1|2
  
  
• Portraits of Rebecca Hall, Clive Owen, Sally Hawkins and Andrew Garfield by Carlo Allegri at the Toronto International Film Festival [link]
  
  
• BBC Radio
• Georgia King and Lee Williams star in the Classic Serial The Ladies' Delight [link] 
• Hattie Morahan reads the Book at Bedtime Sister [link]
• Stephen Mangan and Adjoa Andoh are the readers for Words and Music "In Search of the Sublime" [link]

Rebecca Hall, Ruth Wilson, Laura Wade. British Academy Television Awards. BBC Radio.

• Interviews with Rebecca Hall (via Momentary Bursts of Enthusiasm) and Ruth Wilson from the Guardian rebecca|ruth
  
  
• Laura Wade interview from the Sheffield Telegraph about Alice [link]
  
  
• British Academy Television Awards
• Selected winners: Julie Walters (leading actress, Mo), Matthew Macfadyen (leading actor, Criminal Justice), and Rebecca Hall (supporting actress, Red Riding 1974). The Thick of It received three awards - female performance in a comedy role (Rebecca Front), male performance in a comedy role (Peter Capaldi), and situation comedy.
• Pictures 1|2|3|4|5|6
• Article from Instyle [link]
• Videos from BAFTA, including a red carpet interview with Ruth Wilson, and an interview with the cast and crew of The Thick of It [link]
• Press release from MAC. Their artists did make up for Romola Garai, Ashley Jensen, and Ruth Wilson. [link]
  
  
• BBC Radio
• Roger Allam and Alex Jennings star in The Idiot (via the AJ Diaries) [link]
• Stephen Mangan reads The Dream Travellers for Big Toe Books [link]
• Juliet Stevenson was interviewed on Loose Ends [link]
  

British Academy Television Craft Awards. Ladybird fairytales. BBC Radio.

• Guests at the British Academy Television Craft Awards included Hayley Atwell, Stephen Mangan, Rebecca Front, Armando Iannucci and Karen Gillan.
• Videos of Hayley Atwell and Stephen Mangan from Leicester Square TV hayley|stephen
• Pictures 1|2|3|4
  
  
• Videos of Toby Stephens, Dan Stevens, Hattie Morahan, Benedict Cumberbatch and Blake Ritson reading Ladybird fairytales [link]
  
  
• BBC Radio
• Dougray Scott and Lesley Sharp will be guests on Loose Ends [link]
• Ed Bishop stars as Philip Marlowe in The Lady in the Lake [link]
• Benedict Cumberbatch stars in Blake's 7 "The Dust Run" [link]

Concerns about the BBC published in the Observer

People such as Hugh Bonneville, Peter Capaldi, Romola Garai, Stephen Mangan, Stephen Merchant, David Tennant, Harriet Walter and Sam West have signed a letter to the Observer regarding their concerns about Tory attitudes towards the BBC (via the Guardian) [link]

Theatre - Enron, The Misanthrope and Rope. Dan Stevens - Wolf Hall.

[updated 2 August 2015]

Enron

• Tom Goodman-Hill interview from Angel magazine [link]
• Jeremy Paxman's "Discovery of the year" from the Telegraph:
  

  "I loved Lucy Prebble's Enron, which began at Chichester and then transferred to the Royal Court in London. This was a production buzzing with energy and ideas, a weird mixture of satire and vaudeville, which somehow managed to illuminate a prevailing madness. The most telling thing about the whole production, of course, was that by the time it was staged, we were all suffering the consequences of another episode of greed and stupidity, which made the Enron scandal look like a vicarage tea party."

Wolf Hall review from the Daily Express:

"Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s chief adviser, was a man so skilled at manipulation and survival he’d make Peter Mandelson blush. His story is told in the Man Booker-winning novel Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and superbly read by Dan Stevens..."

The Misanthrope

• Damian-Lewis.com has scans from a Sunday Times theatre feature featuring some of The Misanthrope cast (Tara Fitzgerald, Damian Lewis, Keira Knightley), Jessica Hynes, John Simm, Rupert Penry-Jones, Marc Warren and Dominic West (registration is required) [link]
• Stephen Mangan attended The Misanthrope press night [link]

Rope

• Guests at the after party included Hattie Morahan, Ben Miles and Lisa Dillon [link]
• A tweet from Sam West:
  

  "To the Almeida for Rope last night - a properly thrilling thriller. Bertie Carvel and Blake Ritson both remarkable; go! http://bit.ly/YC1wr"

Television - Lennon Naked. Andrea Riseborough. Ruth Wilson - Television - Small Island. BBC Radio.

• Christopher Eccleston, Naoko Mori, Claudie Blakley, Rory Kinnear and Andrew Scott will star in the BBC4 one-off drama Lennon Naked [link]
• Andrea organised some performances at a Stepney pub for the launch of an arts charity [link]
• BBC Radio
• Ruth will promote Small Island on Loose Ends [link]
• Peter Capaldi and Emily Bruni will be doing Words and Music [link]
• Afternoon Plays
• Stephen Mangan and Rebecca Front star in Grey Expectations [link]
• Timothy Spall and Amanda Root star in A Dangerous Thing [link]
  
• Steve Coogan, Patrick Marber, Rebecca Front and David Schneider star in Knowing Me, Knowing You produced by Armando Iannucci [link]
  
• Stephen Fry and John Bird star in Absolute Power [link]

Ruth Wilson - Television - Luther. Romola Garai. Audio drama.

• Ruth plays Alice Morgan in Luther, a six-part series starring Idris Elba [link]
• Romola will be interviewed on Woman's Hour this Thursday [link]
• Audio drama:
• Urban Scrawl "Hounslow East" by Laura Wade stars Katherine Parkinson [link]
• Alex Jennings, Lizzy Watts and Patrick Kennedy star in the Woman's Hour Drama Our Mutual Friend [link]
• Patti Love, John Hannah and David Morrissey star in Mary Barnes [link]
  
• Sam Dale and Lydia Leonard star in the Afternoon Play The Railway Siding [link]
• Toby Stephens stars in Birdsong [link]
  
• Bill Paterson, Stephen Mangan and Damian Lewis star in the Afternoon Play Number 10 [link]

Theatre - 24 Hour Plays. Television - The Thick of It. Theatre - Evening Standard Theatre Awards longlist.

• 24 Hour Plays
• Article and video from the Independent [link]
• 2 part recap from ThisStage 1|2
• Pictures from the after party. As well as performers such as Jason Isaacs, Romola Garai, Stephen Mangan, Ruth Wilson, Hattie Morahan and Anna Maxwell Martin, guests included Damian Lewis, Imogen Lloyd Webber, Blake Ritson and Jessica deRothschild. [link]
  
• The Thick of It
  
• Review of series 3 episode 2 from the Guardian [link]
• Rebecca Front was on Broadcasting House [link]
• In addition to Enron, productions such as The Winter's Tale (Best Actor - Simon Russell Beale; The Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress - Rebecca Hall; Best Director - Sam Mendes) and Hamlet (Best Actor - David Tennant) are also on the Evening Standard Theatre Awards longlist [link]

Theatre - 24 Hour Plays. Sunday Times London theatre feature. BBC Radio.

• Anna Maxwell Martin and Ruth Wilson will take part in the 24-Hour Plays Celebrity Gala at the Old Vic, 1 November [link]
• There will be a Sunday Times London theatre feature about people such as Samuel West, Samantha Bond, Harry Treadaway, Luke Treadaway, Ben Whishaw, Peter Hall, Ian McKellen, Juliet Stevenson and Derek Jacobi. Sam posted a picture from the photoshoot, which took place at the Royal Court. [link]
• BBC Radio:
• Romola Garai will be on Loose Ends promoting Emma [link]
• Tom Hollander and Sheila Hancock will be the readers on Words and Music "Illusions of Power" [link]
• Peter Firth will narrate the Book of the Week The Defence of the Realm [link]
• Stephen Mangan and Peter Serafinowicz will narrate the Book at Bedtime And Another Thing... [link]
• Stephen Campbell Moore and Diana Quick star in the Afternoon Play A Dose of Fame [link]
• Judi Dench and Michael Sheen star in The Importance of Being Earnest [link]
• Jason Isaacs will narrate The Prince and the Pauper for Big Toe Books [link]

Entertainment news

• Tilda Swinton interviews 1|2
• Matthew Goode and Ben Whishaw being spiffy in Esquire [link]
• Entertainment Weekly's Fall TV preview [link]
• Debi Mazar interview (via entourageblog) [link]
• Russell Brand interview on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson part 1|part 2
• Marvellous blog post about Rear Window (dir. Alfred Hitchcock) at Self Styled Siren [link]
• Kimberley Nixon and Harry Treadaway are featured in teenvogue.com's "Young Hollywood 2008" kimberley|harry
• Australian box office takings are set to increase [link]
• Interviews with Andrea Riseborough, Emilia Fox, Rupert Graves and Juno Temple andrea|emilia|rupert|juno
• Some Hollywood studios have finally realised that compatibility is important in regard to (legally) downloaded content [link]
• Article about money in Hollywood [link]
• Fremantle has bought a 19.9% stake in Beyond International [link]
• Interview with Stephen Mangan [link]
  

Related links:
Harry Treadaway 1|2|3
Andrea Riseborough 1|2
Juno Temple 1|2|3

Tags: Tilda Swinton, Matthew Goode, Ben Whishaw, Esquire, Debi Mazar, Russell Brand, Craig Ferguson, Late Late Show, Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock, Kimberley Nixon, Harry Treadaway, Andrea Riseborough, Emilia Fox, Rupert Graves, Juno Temple, Stephen Mangan