“The whole program was very enlightening,” said Mr. Hildesheim, a COO in the IT industry. “I came for the art, and the art and the culture was very fascinating.”

Translating for Ms. Mendes da Silva, who spoke in Portuguese, he said she had enjoyed the orchestra, the music, the costumes, the design work, the choreography, the construction of the stories, and the way the artists had acted through dance.

“Oh, that was beautiful. Two strings, I think they said, right? Incredible. That was incredible,” he said.

Mr. Hildesheim said they saw an overarching message in the performance about belief, and Ms. Mendes da Silva strongly resonated with this storyline as she recently met a student from China in her English language class who shared about the persecution she suffered in China and how she got here.

“I think the overall message that we got from it is, you know, there’s always going to be forces that are going to pull you away from trying to do the right thing. And stick [to] the course, do what you think is right, and try to be good. And that will take you a long way,” Mr. Hildesheim said.