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5 amazing moments from past WhatsOnStage Awards

Here’s a brief walk down memory lane ahead of the awards this Sunday

It's that time of year again! This Sunday the 17th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards Concert at the Prince of Wales Theatre will be hosted by Simon Lipkin and Vikki Stone. There have been countless classic moments over many years of the ceremony. Here are just a few to get you in the mood for the party. If you don't have a ticket to this year's awards, stay tuned in to our Twitter feed, Facebook and Instagram for up to the moment news, pictures and videos from the night. Click here for everything you need to know about the awards.


Benedict Cumberbatch's acceptance speech, 2016

Benedict Cumberbatch acceptance speech

Congratulations to Benedict Cumberbatch who has won the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in Hamlet. #WOSAwards

Posted by WhatsOnStage on Sunday, February 21, 2016

At last year's awards the great Sherlock actor took home Best Actor in a Play Award for his performance in Hamlet. Though he couldn't be there, he recorded the best – and possibly lengthiest – speech ever made. It was lovely.

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Daniel Radcliffe gets snogged, 2008

The smooch
The smooch

In 2008 Daniel Radcliffe won Newcomer of the Year for his role in Equus but it's fair to say he was caught slightly off-guard by host James Corden, who proceeded to snog the man as he stepped up to accept his award. "I had visions of Britney and Madonna", said Daniel. Indeed.


Barry Humphries, thanking no one, 2014

© Peter Gibbons

It's guaranteed to be a good moment if Barry Humphries is part of it. But in 2014, the creative force behind Dame Edna provided one of the best speeches of the night. When accepting the award for Best Solo Performance for Eat Pray Laugh! he said: "It's so wonderful to be a solo performer, because then you have no one to thank".


James Corden's dress code mix-up, 2012

Corden looking
Corden looking slightly out of place

Host, winner, James Corden has played all sorts of roles at the WhatsOnStage Awards. It was in 2012, however, when accepting the Best Actor in a Play Award for One Man, Two Guvnors when he made us properly giggle. Running up to the stage in jeans and a jumper, he looked, shall we say, a little out of place. "I didn't get the email about the clothes!"


Nicole Kidman flying over just for the awards, 2016

© Dan Wooller for WhatsOnStage

Everyone loved Nicole Kidman in new play Photograph 51 which is no doubt why she was voted winner of the Best Actress in a Play award in 2016. But though she's a Hollywood A-lister, the play had finished and she'd headed off back home to America, she still turned up. She flew all the way from her home in Tennessee to accept it. What a legend.

Click here for our ultimate guide to the WhatsOnStage Awards