First things first – yes, it IS every bit as good as you’ve heard.

Shamefacedly I must admit that I only heard about this show via a recommendation from a friend of a friend who saw it in New York- but luckily it was still early enough for me to register for priority booking and so as soon as tickets went on sale a year ago I booked tickets for January (I specifically didn’t book for the opening in December as I wanted to give the tickets to my other half as his Christmas present… fortunately the booking was linked to my credit card so he couldn’t go with anyone else!)

I listened to the soundtrack quite a bit in the intervening months so I was already familiar with some of the music and I’d recommend doing the same; it’s lovely knowing a few of the songs before you go (I challenge you not to sing along to ‘My Shot’ and ‘In the Room Where It Happened’) and I can assure you that there’s still so much to see and take in that it doesn’t in any way diminish your enjoyment of the show.

The cast in London are all British, not that you’d realise it from their accents. Everyone hits the nail on the head and newcomer Jamael Westman (playing Hamilton himself) is a revelation. The only odd note was having Hamilton’s eldest son being played by the same (adult) actor the whole way through- which is perfectly fine when he’s 19 but seemed very strange when he’s supposedly 9 years old and having a scene with his ‘dad’ (who he looked considerably older than…) but that was the only slip up in the whole flawless production.

I could write much, much more (how you’d never have been so bored in history lessons at school if everything was delivered in fast, punchy rap songs, how the comedy moments really will make you LOL, and also about how you shouldn’t neglect to notice how beautifully the Victoria Palace Theatre has been revamped for this production- if, like me, you visited it in its previous, slightly tatty, incarnation as the home of ‘Billy Elliott’, the change is remarkable) but you hardly need me to, surely?

Overall: Book now. Yes, you probably will be waiting several months to go… but I guarantee it is worth the wait.