WhatsOnStage Awards: Everything you need to know about this year's ceremony

When and where?

This year's WhatsOnStage Awards Concert will take place on the 25 February 2018, in the very great Prince of Wales Theatre. We're returning to the venue, which is right in the heart of theatreland, and usually home to the raucous The Book of Mormon. The red carpet opens at 6pm, with the concert starting at 7pm. Tickets are now sold out.

How can I follow on the day?

Just because you don't have a ticket, doesn't mean you're going to miss it! Below are the many different ways you can follow if you haven't managed to get in through the door.

Facebook
WhatsOnStage will be live from the red carpet on Facebook from 6.15pm on the day of the concert. Our very own deputy editor Ben Hewis will be hosting with Eurovision Song Contest runner up and actress Lucie Jones. The double-act hosted the Facebook Live last year so we know they're a recipe for success and they will be joined by the great and the good from the carpet. Watch last year's to get yourself excited.

Twitter
Follow @WhatsOnStage for all the live updates – including live tweets from inside the ceremony with up to the moment winners announcements. Get involved and tell us what you think using #WOSAwards.

We'll be at the venue most of the day, so to get some fun, behind-the-scenes glimpses of the magic happening keep an eye on our feed throughout Saturday.

Instagram
Our Instagram feed will be packed full of pictures from before, during and after the concert, so don't forget to follow us for red carpet glitz, glamour and fun. Use #WOSAwards too!

Who's presenting the awards?

Our illustrious hosts this year are Trevor Dion Nicholas and Vikki Stone. You'll probably have seen Trevor onstage at the Prince Edward Theatre where he's delighting audiences as the Genie. He's also a WOS Award winner, having taken home the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical in 2017.

Vikki is no newbie to hosting our awards, as this is her second year in a row. Vikki was most recently onstage as Fleshcreep in the Lyric Hammersmith's production of Jack and the Beanstalk and has had a career on screen and stage as a comedian, composer, musician and more. They will be a marvellously hilarious and entertaining duo, so enjoy!

Who's performing at the concert?

We have a host of brilliant performances lined up for this year's event.

Janie Dee will be singing "Could I Leave You?" from Follies, following her fabulous run in the musical at the National Theatre. Dee is also a #WOSAward nominee this year in the Best Actress in a Musical category.

Bat Out of Hell: Jim Steinman's musical featuring songs sung by Meat Loaf will return to London later this year and in anticipation the cast will perform a medley from the show for the awards.

Tyrone Huntley, Alice Fearn and Hanna-Jane Fox will all perform a mix of songs from Broadway musicals.

The title song from the recent hit film The Greatest Showman will be sung by the likes of Matthew Croke, Christine Allado, Jonny Labey and Melanie La Barrie.

WhatsOnStage Award nominee Clare Halse is to perform "Go Into Your Dance" with the cast of superb, foot tapping musical 42nd Street.

The company of the hit new musical Everybody's Talking About Jamie will perform the very excellent title song.

Hair the Musical: after a hit run at the Vaults last year, the 50th anniversary production of the risquée musical will return for the WhatsOnStage Awards to give us a rendition of "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In".

Working: cast members from the recent staging of Stephen Schwartz's musical reunite to sing Lin-Manuel Miranda's song "A Very Good Day". Siubhan Harrison and Liam Tamne will sing the track together during the evening.

Who's nominated this year?

Everyone who you voted for! This year Bat Out of Hell and 42nd Street each lead the nominations with eight nods. Bat Out of Hell is nominated in the Best Musical category, while 42nd Street was recognised in the Best Musical Revival, Best Supporting Actress and Best Actor in a Musical categories. Bat stars Andrew Polec and Christina Bennington are each nominated for Best Actor in a Musical and Best Actress in a Musical respectively.

All of the nominated shows in the Best New Musical category originally opened outside of the capital, with Cilla the Musical debuting in Liverpool, The Band and Bat Out Of Hell premiering in Manchester, Young Frankenstein coming to life in Newcastle, and Everybody's Talking About Jamie having an original run in Sheffield before coming to London.

The National Theatre has this year secured a large number of nominations – 19 in all – for several shows including Angels in America, Follies, Network and Mosquitoes. Bryan Cranston is nominated for his turn in Network, while Olivia Colman is nominated for Best Actress for Mosquitoes.

There were also two new categories introduced for 2017: Best Original Cast Recording – nominations are Hamilton, Les Misérables, Dreamgirls, Dear Evan Hansen and Girl From the North Country – and Best Show Poster – nominations were Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked and Hamilton.

Read the full list of nominees for the WhatsOnStage Awards.

How should I prepare?

If you're coming on the night, the guidelines say glamourous, so dress accordingly! You'll be at the Prince of Wales with the great and the good of theatreland, so here's your moment to stand out. For those of you at home, make sure you're logged on to Facebook from 6.15pm and watching our Twitter feed all night for the winners.