Benedict Cumberbatch up for WhatsOnStage award

Benedict Cumberbatch is up for best actor as Hamlet

The blockbuster production of Hamlet, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, is the most nominated play at the WhatsOnStage awards.

The sell-out Barbican show has nine nominations, including best actor for the Sherlock star.

Musicals Kinky Boots and In The Heights also have nine nominations each.

The winners, chosen by public vote, will be announced at an awards concert on 21 February 2016 at the Prince of Wales Theatre.

Hamlet's nominations include supporting actor nods for Ciaran Hinds, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Sian Brooke and Anastasia Hille, while Lyndsey Turner is shortlisted for best director.

The production made headlines this summer after it shifted the position of Hamlet's famous "to be or not to be" soliloquy.

Cumberbatch had also made a plea to fans during early performances not to film his performance.

The 39-year-old actor faces competition in the best actor category from James McAvoy (The Ruling Class), Bradley Cooper (The Elephant Man), Mark Rylance (Farinelli and the King) and Alex Hassell (Henry V).

Nicole Kidman is nominated for best actress in a play for her part as a pioneering scientist in Photograph 51.

She is up against Rosalie Craig (As You Like It), Denise Gough (People, Places, Things), Harriet Walter (Death Of A Salesman) and Lia Williams (Oresteia).

Photograph 51 and Farinelli and the King are both nominated for best new play, along with Oppenheimer, People, Places and Things and Hangmen.

The recently-opened Elf the Musical is up for best new musical category in competition with Kinky Boots, Bend It Like Beckham, Beautiful and In the Heights.

THE 16TH ANNUAL WHATSONSTAGE AWARDS NOMINEES IN FULL:

Best Actor in a Play:

• Benedict Cumberbatch, Hamlet

• James McAvoy, The Ruling Class

• Bradley Cooper, The Elephant Man

• Mark Rylance, Farinelli and the King

• Alex Hassell, Henry V

Best Actress in a Play:

• Nicole Kidman, Photograph 51

• Denise Gough, People, Places and Things

• Lia Williams, Oresteia

• Rosalie Craig, As You Like It

• Harriet Walter, Death of a Salesman

Best Actor in a Musical:

• Killian Donnelly, Kinky Boots

• Michael Ball, Mack and Mabel

• Matt Henry, Kinky Boots

• Sam Mackay, In the Heights

• Ben Forster, Elf the Musical

Best Actress in a Musical:

• Imelda Staunton, Gypsy

• Beverley Knight, Cats

• Kimberley Walsh, Elf the Musical

• Lily Frazer, In the Heights

• Katie Brayben, Beautiful

Best Supporting Actor in a Play:

• Ciaran Hinds, Hamlet

• Mark Gatiss, Three Days in the Country

• Bertie Carvel, Bakkhai

• Johnny Flynn, Hangmen

• Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Hamlet

Best Supporting Actress in a Play:

• Sian Brooke, Hamlet

• Anastasia Hille, Hamlet

• Imogen Doel, The Importance of Being Earnest

• Patsy Ferran, As You Like It

• Judi Dench, The Winter's Tale

Best Supporting Actor in a Musical:

• Lucas Rush, American Idiot

• Alexis Gerred, American Idiot

• David Bedella, In The Heights

• Jack Edwards, Mack and Mabel

• Peter Davison, Gypsy

Best Supporting Actress in a Musical:

• Lara Pulver, Gypsy

• Jennie Dale, Elf the Musical

• Amy Lennox, Kinky Boots

• Lauren Samuels, Bend It Like Beckham

• Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, In The Heights

Best New Play:

• Hangmen

• Oppenheimer

• Photograph 51

• People, Places and Things

• Farinelli and the King

Best New Musical:

• Kinky Boots

• Bend It Like Beckham

• Elf the Musical

• Beautiful

• In The Heights

Best Play Revival:

• Hamlet

• The Importance of Being Earnest

• The Ruling Class

• Death of a Salesman

• Oresteia

Best Musical Revival:

• Gypsy

• Cats

• High Society

• Mack and Mabel

• American Idiot

Best Direction:

• Hamlet, Lyndsey Turner

• In The Heights, Luke Sheppard

• American Idiot, Racky Plews

• Kinky Boots, Jerry Mitchell

• Gypsy, Jonathan Kent

Best Choreography:

• Kinky Boots, Jerry Mitchell

• In The Heights, Drew McOnie

• High Society, Nathan M Wright

• Gypsy, Stephen Mear

• American Idiot, Racky Plews

Best Set Design:

• Hamlet, Es Devlin

• American Idiot, Sara Perks

• Kinky Boots, David Rockwell

• In The Heights, Takis

• Gypsy, Anthony Ward

Best Lighting Design:

• Hamlet, Jane Cox

• In The Heights, Howard Hudson

• American Idiot, Tim Deiling

• Kinky Boots, Kenneth Posner

• Gypsy, Mark Henderson

Best Off-West End Production:

• Shock Treatment, King's Head Theatre

• Carrie, Southwark Playhouse

• You Won't Succeed on Broadway If You Don't Have Any Jews, St James's Theatre

• Grand Hotel, Southwark Playhouse

• Assassins, The Menier Chocolate Factory

Best Regional Production:

• Mack and Mabel, Chichester Festival Theatre and tour

• Mary Poppins, tour

• Anything Goes, Sheffield Crucible and tour

• Hairspray, tour

• Henry V, RSC

Best West End Show:

• Wicked

• Les Miserables

• Kinky Boots

• Miss Saigon

• Matilda