Rain Opens on Broadway

Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles on Broadway opened last night at the Neil Simon Theatre to decidedly mixed reviews.  The show has almost no plot (some say a smart choice, others say not so much), but the idea appears to be that anyone interested in buying a ticket would probably know as much of the relevant history as they would need, to paraphrase an idea put forth by Charles Isherwood in his New York Times review.  The four musicians playing the Fab Four channel the Beatles with mixed effect, getting some things spot on and others less convincingly so -- but all convey the requisite fun and enjoyment of the task at hand.  It sounds like this is a somewhat enjoyable concert for a certain crowd (maybe those looking for a brief trip down memory lane), but not much more than that.