RAINBOW - At the Orpheum.  James Rado, perhaps best known as the co-author of the book for Hair, has now co-authored the book for this show with his brother Ted, and has also provided all of the music and lyrics for some forty-two songs.  The story is carried by the lyrics (there is no dialogue) and, as with Hair, it is fairly ephemeral: a band of Rainbeams, exotically costumed spirits descend to earth from a rainbow, resurrect a soldier killed in battle in Vietnam and enlist his help on an odyssey to show the earth how beautiful it once was and how ugly it has become.  Despite the fairy-tale simplicity - e.g. such obvious lines as "Where there is pollution there is profit." - it is a wildly exuberant, enormously entertaining work.  The mostly rock-inspired music is still far ranging and eclectic, and the lyrics and their subjects are clever and occasionally hilarious.  And, praise be, under Joe Donovan's imaginative direction, the large cast really acts and sings.  A feast for the eyes and the ear.
 

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