"Amateur productions can never compare to professional ones... if we are talking about set, lights, stage, and all that minus the actual actors.
Any production can have better actors, singers, dancer.."
Often, a play can benefit from the simplicity created by financial necessity. I once worked on a musical with basically no budget, and it was a very frustrating experience, but then a close and trusted friend told me that he found the use of the bare stage, the lack of microphones, and the simplicity of the costumes helped the storytelling and made the production engaging and totally unpretentious. More money is not always better, remember Spiderman: Turn off the Dark?
Call_me_jorge, I know a few very talented people who have come out of that program. It is nice to hear that they are continuing to do good work and foster young talent.