Okay, so I saw all of WDW's nighttime shows on my recent trip, essentially all for the first time. And Rivers of Light was one of my favorites. I could sit down, the area is stunning with the trees and everest and the lighting. Then of course, the actors coming through the audience is a great little pre-show (and you can see how gorgeous the costumes and make up are). And then the show is like a lullaby or a bedtime story. Elegant and whimsical with a good score, to boot. It isn't the Nighttime Spectacular that the other parks boast, and that's what I enjoyed about it. The Tree Awakening and Rivers of Light work together quite well to set an awesome tone for AK after dark, that's playful and beautiful, much like - well - nature. It made the park - for me - feel so much more complete.
Is the narrative strong? No, not really, but - save for Fantasmic! - I didn't find the other nighttime shows to have a particularly strong narrative either. And I think RoL could also use some of it's tech a bit better (or with some more variety) but in all, I was very happy with how it came out.
As for the actors getting cut, I'm pretty frustrated. I said my piece in the Budget Cutz thread so I won't parrot myself, but essentially, I'm sure paying these performers is such a small budget in the grand scheme of things. And further, this show is designed to have performers; they're even incorporated into the shadow projections. I think cutting them will make the show lose good deal of it's kinetic energy, which was one of the things that really worked in its favor. If people thought RoL was lackluster already, I think this will only exasperate those feelings.