John Wilkes Booth was 27 when he shot Abraham Lincoln and, aged 31, the multi-talented Aaron Tveit, here making his London debut, is the youngest person by some margin to play the role in a major production in London or New York. This is a great gamble for both Tveit and Lloyd, akin, perhaps, to casting a 25 year old to play the Witch in Into The Woods. It’s a clean break with the historical approach to the casting and playing of the role.

But it is a decision which works wonderfully and pays real dividends for this production. In place of the sense of gravitas and self-righteous indignation usually found in Booth, Tveit brings the arrogance and spontaneity of vain-glorious youth. He becomes the leader and inspiration of the other assassins because he was the first; it is happenstance, nothing else, which marks him out.

With perfect hair, teeth and beard, immaculate tailored clothing, impeccable speech, a twinkle in the eye and a nice line in jazz-hands and fancy footwork, Tveit’s matinee idol Booth is very much the actor, the performer, the manipulator. He sings beautifully too, all seduction and allure as he tempts both audience and fellow assassins into admiring him despite his slaying of Lincoln. This is an exciting and thoroughly realised reimagining of a great Sondheim role.