PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—Once again the Merriam Theater hosted Shen Yun Performing Arts to an audience ready to be entertained. Alan Durham, plant manager at Chemglass Life Sciences, a glassware company, and his wife Debbie had wanted to see a show that presents Chinese culture but had not been able to for two years because of the pandemic.

For Mr. Durham, the show was soothing and made him happy. He noted that the patented animated backdrop sequences were very well done.

He could sense the spiritual ambiance coming through the performance. “I could feel that. I could sense that, and I understand that the Chinese culture does relate to a lot of the heavenly things. Spiritual—I’m trying to think of the right words—I see it more in the Chinese culture than I do in the American culture,” he said.

For Kirt Titchenell, musician and owner of BTV Live, an entertainment company, and his wife Mariann, the orchestra was “absolutely phenomenal.”

Both said they loved the way the orchestra blended Western and Asian instruments into the music. Mr. Titchenell, who plays the trombone, said it was more than he expected. He said the level of performance was “top-level and unique.”

Shen Yun’s live orchestra features traditional Chinese instruments such as the pipa and erhu, while blending them harmoniously with a classical Western orchestra.

Mrs. Titchenell, who has a background in dance said that “the dancers are on point, they are very entertaining.”

Noticing the spiritual quality of the performance, she said the message was “very uplifting.”

“I think it’s a shame that it’s suppressed in China, that they can’t enjoy this,” Mr. Titchenell said, but he recommends that everybody should see the show.