Peter O'Toole opened the venue on 22 October 1963, playing Hamlet under the eye of founder Sir Laurence Olivier. More than 800 productions have taken place at the venue in the intervening 50 years, including premieres of plays by Tom Stoppard, Peter Shaffer, Harold Pinter, Alan Bennett and David Hare.
During their visit, the Queen and Prince Philip will enjoy a musical number from Guys and Dolls, which was the first musical staged at the National, in 1982. The royal visitors will also visit the props workshop and unveil a plaque to commemorate the theatre's 50th anniversary.
Vinyl Revival - Daft Punk, Arctic Monkeys and Vampire Weekend have helped vinyl records achieve their highest sales figures for more than a decade. Figures from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) show almost 550,000 LPs have been sold so far in 2013. It is still a small amount compared to downloads and CD sales, accounting for 0.7% of all albums sold. "We're witnessing a renaissance for records," the BPI's chief executive Geoff Taylor explained. "They're no longer retromania and are becoming the format of choice for more and more music fans. Vinyl sales are growing fast."
Record Store Day, the annual celebration of independent record shops, is credited with driving the surge in sales. This year it was held in April and generated £2 million in sales. It saw Biffy Clyro, Tom Odell and Chvrches release limited edition albums. Sales of vinyl albums have doubled in 2013 so far in the UK.
Busking News - Sir Paul McCartney gave an impromptu gig in Covent Garden during the lunchtime rush. The 71-year-old sang four songs from his latest album, New, from a truck parked on the piazza. It follows a similar stunt in New York last week. The singer opened with his current single, also called New, and closed with the same song approximately 20 minutes later, telling the audience: "Thank you very much. OK now, back to work!"
Family Affair - A new stage musical by the writer of Calendar Girls has won two prizes at the UK Theatre Awards, which reward the best of British regional theatre. This Is My Family by Tim Firth, which opened at the Sheffield Crucible in June, was named best musical. The cast included Sian Phillips, who won best supporting performance. Sheffield Theatres, which runs the city's Crucible and Lyceum venues, scooped a total of four awards, including the two for This Is My Family. The musical tells the story of two teenage children, a stressed mum and dad, a bawdy aunt and a forgetful grandmother, played by Phillips, who end up on a disastrous camping holiday. The songs and script were written by Firth, whose past credits include the Madness musical Our House and the Kinky Boots film script as well as the Calendar Girls movie.
Lottery Draw - Free tickets for a Van Morrison concert, staged to celebrate the singer being granted the freedom of his native Belfast, will be drawn from a lottery. The 68 year old is due to be conferred with the honour on 15 November, and later that evening he will perform a free gig at Belfast's Waterfront Hall. A total of 2,000 tickets will be made available.
(Jim Evans)
