I agree about the feel of the show being the energy. I liked Phanton best here, even some musicals I have seen at colleges are just as good as anything I have seen on Broadway.
I am very interested in set and theater design and sometimes the lack of an unlimited budget makes for more interesting sets too
. Great point Arwen! I bet y'all get good first run tours in Austin too.
Though I enjoy the Disney unlimited budget thing (you know, what could be done if...), by far my favorite was Lion King which was a very simple set.