I appreciate your restrained and balanced perspective. Lots of uninformed opinions on this thread; you’re isn’t one of them.
FWIW, I saw Hamilton in Chicago with my 11-year-old daughter (8th row center), and my daughter also saw it in NYC. We’re an arts-loving family (my daughter is in an 8-month national Broadway show right now), and we’re also social/fiscal conservative Christians. I’ve listened to the music straight through dozens of times. It really is an amazing work of art, in so many ways, and those who dismiss it are missing out on something profound ...
I have not seen it, and I don’t expect to. The deeper issue is that entertainment has become the prime source of knowledge about history for many people.
Entertainment is fine. It can be whatever it wants. I rolled my eyes and shrugged my shoulders, I wasn’t offended or irritated at this artistic license, and I did get a chuckle out of wondering if it would be so “edgy” and acceptable to have Chris Farley play Martin Luther King in a musical.
The part where I DO have reservations is the insidious erosion of accurate and serious historical perspective by movies and plays that are “based on a true story”. For a lot of people, that is their knowledge of history, what they see on the “History Channel” or some movie out of Hollywood.
I think it is serious mistake to dismiss that.