I was honestly not sure what to expect when I sat down to watch this show. What I got was beautiful music and a play that serves the story it is based on extraordinarily well. While there is an occasionally rushed moment (hardly surprising in a show based on such a rich story) I found things easy to follow and was intrigued the whole time. The cast is quite talented, and the costumes lovely. A real achievement. (And no, you do not need to be familiar with the book to follow and enjoy the musical.)