PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—Once again the Merriam Theater hosted Shen Yun Performing Arts to an audience ready to be entertained. Alan Durham, plant manager at Chemglass Life Sciences, a glassware company, and his wife Debbie had wanted to see a show that presents Chinese culture but had not been able to for two years because of the pandemic. New York-based Shen Yun tours the globe to showcase “China before communism,” and puts on a new production every year of classical Chinese dance and traditional Chinese music. For Mr. Durham, the show was soothing and made him happy. He noted that the patented animated backdrop sequences were very well done. He could sense the spiritual ambiance coming through the performance. “I could feel that. I could sense that, and I understand that the Chinese culture does relate to a lot of the heavenly things. Spiritual—I’m trying to think of the right words—I see it more …