Mr. Franklin, a senior executive in the healthcare industry, said of the performance: “I thought it was great. The performers were amazing. The singing was great.”

“The orchestra was amazing. The talent was just ... it was phenomenal,” he said, adding that he hopes New York-based Shen Yun will return to Texas next year.

Mrs. Franklin. who also works in the medical field, expressed great appreciation for the singers. “I loved it. I wasn’t expecting the singers but the tenor and the bass were both great,” she said.

The couple said they were both leaving with a positive outlook after watching the performance. “Positivity, faith; I mean, it’s not always lost,” Franklin said of Shen Yun. He enthusiastically recommended Shen Yun to others.

“Oh, absolutely. I hope you'll come back again next year. I wanna see it again next year,” he said. “It’s worth it. You have to, have to see it at least once.”

Mr. Franklin said he gained new insight into how spiritual traditional Chinese culture is from Shen Yun.

“I didn’t realize it was, I mean, you hear about the communist party, how it doesn’t allow religion and whatnot and they shut it down. And I didn’t realize that there was so much religion in Chinese culture. So it was something I’ve learned tonight,” he said.

Franklin was also impressed with Shen Yun’s opening piece. “I thought the opening act was great, the display of strength and balance. Then, I loved the river when they were [dancing with the] sleeves and the spinning.”

Mrs. Franklin said, “The colorful costumes have a lot of heritage and a lot of culture.”

“It was nice to be exposed to something that you don’t see all the time. I’m glad we came.”