The tour came to Atlanta a long long time ago when I was 10 or so, and this was when the tour was good and had the real helicopter, and my dad got his company's tickets for the 2nd nite. Me and my sister loved it so much that he had to take the tickets for the rest of the week and bring us back for 5 consecutive performances. I guess the guy really loves us because near the end, he looked like he was gonna hit something if he heard any of the songs any more (we also insisted on listening to the music and the way to and from the theater, we were a tad bit obsessed)
I saw it last fall in Boston and was so disapointed. I brought a friend who was not a theater fan at all, swearing this would change her. Well at the end, I was near tears, but because such a beautiful show had been so masterfully butchered.
Interesting tidbit, my parents saw the show in previews and opening nite on Broadway, and if I remember correctly, the man playing the engineer was of Latino descent, not Asian and apparently some members of the Asian community were very angry that the part didn't go to an Asian actor. Apparently it was a pretty big deal, but I was really young at the time and don't remember much of the details...
"Commit a little mortal sin, its good for the soul"