NEW YORK - Only really at the end of "Rain - A Tribute to the Beatles on Broadway" does it hit you why so many people are happily paying to see four dudes imitate the Fab Four.
It's not the two-hour concert of pitch-perfect reproductions of Beatles music, including "Hard Day's Night," "Yesterday," "Eleanor Rigby," "Strawberry Fields" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."
It's not the guys on stage themselves - Joey Curatolo (vocals, bass, guitar, piano), Joe Bithorn (vocals, lead guitar, guitar synthesizer), Ralph Castelli (vocals, drums) and Steve Landes (vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica) - though they are excellent musicians and do mostly passable impressions of Paul, George, Ringo and George.
No, there's something else going on here and it becomes clear at the end.
After the band has left the stage following "Give Peace a Chance," the audience at the Neil Simon Theatre is in no mood to go home. They want to see Paul and John again, singing from the same microphone. They want an encore.
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Fans, some with gray hair and some without any, clap and dance happily in the seats to songs such as "Twist and Shout." There seems to be a collective willing by the crowd that these four on stage are the real thing, that though sheer wishing, we could roll away the wrinkles and have our Beatles back.
The show, known for its extensive tour throughout the U.S. (including a Tucson stop in 2008), hits Broadway as a strange fit. It's a concert by musicians who rarely say anything.
The faux Fab Four start by singing "I Want to Hold Your Hand" as they mimic an appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show," then mutate into their Shea Stadium concert in 1965. We see them mature - and change outfits - until they finish in their "Abbey Road" days.
