I think seeing the play, educational wise, was a great way of helping with the study of the story. We were also studying George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' at the same time which didn't impress me at all I would imagine a play of that would have been a lot more fun!
Don't worry, I don't think you dislike Audrey and I do understand your feelings on her in the musical, her cockney accent was a bit cringeworthy but I think her normal voice is beautiful. I'm so not a fan of musicals myself but I can still remember clearly the songs in this one, it was always shown around Christmas time so maybe there's a bit of fond childhood memories in the mix too