Saw Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of War Of The Worlds in Manchester last night. I wasn't sure what to expect. But, I absolutely LOVED it. There was a 50-piece string section, along with an 8-piece rock band. Jeff Wayne conducted. Then, Justin Hayward sang the songs he originally performed on the album, "Eve of the War" and "Forever Autumn", Chris Thompson did "Thunder Child". I was a bit confused when I heard Russel Watson was playing the Parson Nathaniel, cos this part was originally done by Phil Lynott, but I actually thought he did quite well.
The light show was amongst the best I've ever seen, on video or in the flesh (that includes Floyd and Jean Michel-Jarre), including a large tripod which was lowered from above the stage, and when there was supposed to be firing at the aliens, the tripod was exploding like nobody's business.
There was even expensive CGI, with the whole story being played on screens and a big 10ft 3-D recreation of Richard Burton's head to narrate that actually looked quite realistic (well, as realistic as a big 10ft head can look).
If this show is coming to a venue near you, I urge you to go and not worry about the expensive price. It costs that much for a reason.