By Lee Pfeiffer
New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood reviews the new Beatles Broadway tribute show Rain, and at best, damns it with faint praise. Ishwerwood says he enjoyed aspects of the show but compares it unfavorably to Jersey Boys, which provides a compelling narrative behind the rise of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Instead, Rain is simply two hours of cover versions of Beatles songs. Isherwood praises the talents of the faux Fab Four, but says the makeup and costumes are cheesy enough to resemble a Benny Hill sketch. He also says the vintage commercials and film clips shown on screens are more compelling than the show itself. However, he points out that the 70s Beatles tribute show Beatlemania proved critic-proof and ran seemingly forever. (I never understood why people spent the same amount of money on the show's soundtrack album when they could have purchased a Beatles hit compilation for the same price.) Be warned: Rain is primarily for those audiences who enjoy singing along with other fans. I'm afraid I'm generally the skunk at the garden party when it comes to those types of concerts: I don't really want to spend my hard-earned money to hear a butcher from the Bronx's version of Hey Jude. To read the review click here