I had never seen the show before (beyond once scene I remember watching Harley Jane Kozak act out for NE Rep when I was @ Theatre Camp @ UNL - random? Yes.) so really didn't have any preconceived notions about the show.
I was blown away by the amount of lines Anika Noni Rose (Maggie) had to memorize for that first Act. It's basically a long monologue with small breaks in between. And she was undressing and redressing and futzing the whole time. Terrence Howard (Brick) didn't really have a lot of lines at first so I felt his character really didn't "click" until his scene w/ James Earl Jones (Big Daddy). JEJ - Amazing!!!! That is HIS role. And Phylicia Rashad (Big Mama) must be having fun w/ her role - no trace of Claire Huxtable here. I was seated in the Orchestra section and saw the director, Debbie Allen, sitting in the side seats above (wonder if she was taking and giving notes still?). As well as the actor that will replace Terrance when he goes on vacation. 
The audience I sat w/ was probably the most vocal audience I've been around and it was kind of fun. Howard comes out in a robe for the first scene so when he would shift on the bed to get himself comfy he would occasionally flash some skin to the audience in which hollers went up for those that saw. ;) They also rumbled at some of the back-biting words used.
Howard's daughter is in the show and she is definitely a child on stage w/ her daddy as opposed to an up and coming child actor. It was refreshing but since the other 2 kids on stage w/ her were child actors it didn't quite work.
Another thing that didn't work was the gal that played the maid. She didn't have many lines or stage time but when she did, she tried to work it as best she could which to me, was distracting and took the production quality down a notch. Another friend that went to the show pointed out that she was the understudy to Rose so I guess that explained her behavior a little but still...lame.
The set is fairly simple for the show as it all takes place in in Brick & Maggie's bedroom but the one thing that fascinated me most about the set was the invisible ceiling fan. You can see the shadow of a ceiling fan spinning on the bed but there is not one above. Quite the lighting trick!
The final touch for the show was the music - live saxophone music played during transitions.
Overall it was a show I'm glad I spent my money on.
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