DETROIT—Valerie Deeds and Jeff Maurer had wanted to see Shen Yun Performing Arts for years when they lived in Washington, D.C., but were unable to secure tickets. After moving to Detroit, they were thrilled to see Shen Yun make a stop at the Detroit Opera House and booked tickets for opening night on Feb. 7.

“It’s beautiful. We have waited so long to see this show,” said Ms. Deeds, a senior mechanical engineer. “We were thrilled. It was beautiful.”

Mr. Maurer, a unified communications engineer, said he had no idea what to expect and found the production “remarkable.”

“It was really nice and very impressive,” he said. “They did a phenomenal job.”

Ms. Deeds said she felt “very connected.”

“The performance is so tight. They just are so in sync and they are so strong. The dancers are so fluid and beautiful and you can feel the emotion in their dance. I think it is just the most stunning thing,” Ms. Deeds said. “And the costumes are incredible. But the singers—we weren’t expecting to see singers, and the singers are amazing.”

“When it came to the bass, I couldn’t believe that came out of that guy,” Ms. Deeds said. “It was pretty impressive to hear his voice. I thought it was amazing, I really did.”

Ms. Deeds said it was a new realization that the traditional Chinese culture, as shown in Shen Yun, was a divinely inspired culture.

It delivered a universal message of kindness, Ms. Deeds added.

“Be kind. Focus on being a good person and focus on your spirituality and not the things that distract you in the modern world or the things that distract you in your everyday life. I think that was it,” she said.

Ms. Deeds said she was thrilled with the experience, and it was one she would repeat.

“We enjoyed it immensely. We would absolutely come again if we can get tickets. The professionalism and just the amount of work that they must put into what they do is so impressive. Just phenomenal. I think they’re phenomenal,” Ms. Deeds said. “Beautiful, beautiful.”