I finally watched it last night after being familiar with only a few tunes from the soundtrack, and obviously a bunch of my students who are obsessed with it 
I did not realize how much I would instantly go for it. The show is so lyrically heavy that I find myself not grasping all of it simply by listening to the soundtrack. Experiencing the full, staged event really captures what it's about.
Man, it is a game changer for Broadway. One of those things like Showboat or West Side Story that becomes a before-and-after moment for music theater. The rhymes, mix of music styles, superb acting and singing, the inspired treatment of old history. It is almost operatic in scope in the way that the music basically never stops.
It also is exciting to see something from live theater become such a phenomenon (instead of a movie or app or social media or other more common music and media formats). Just like "Harry Potter" showed that books can still be a huge part of pop culture, "Hamilton" has shown us that theater--and specifically music theater--moves people, whether they are theater elites or casual fans. Remarkable stuff, "Hamilton."
Edit history
= new reply since forum marked as read
