I saw the DC production last night, and was underwhelmed. On the good side, the costuming was gorgeous (with one or two odd exceptions), the story based dances told their stories well, the women's and whole group ensemble dances were fairly good (particularly the women's first ensemble number), and the string soloist was fantastic. On the bad side, the M.C.'s had very cheesy patter with bland delivery, the male dancers had some good individuals but bad group timing and cohesion, the CGI background screen was frequently comical, the "ethnic" performances very westernized (rather than traditional), the show never delivered strong energy (even with the drum number), boring songs, and worst of all: extreme religious propaganda throughout.
(Washington Post, January 20, 2010)
