‘Wicked’ is almost sure to be evergreen

“Wicked� parked its theatrical sorcery at the Pantages on Wednesday, and don’t expect it to vanish in a puff of smoke anytime soon.

The witchcraft is as fresh as it has ever been, thanks to the two splendiferous leads, Eden Espinosa and Megan Hilty, who in highlighting the youthful impetuousness of their roles turn assumptions about good and bad witches on their head.

But an even more impressive feat is the way their harmonious incantations redeem the fun of this familiar blockbuster. Who knew the spell could still work so well?

Evil, as the musical suggests, may be a function of who’s labeling it. But talent is less equivocal. Some people got it, and some people don’t. And Espinosa, the powerhouse vocalist Elphaba, and Hilty, the comically scintillating Galinda (aka Glinda), have it in spades. These actresses don’t depart from the glorious prototypes established by Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth on Broadway. But they bring a quality of innocence and sprightly enthusiasm that allows them to make the parts seem completely in sync with their own true selves.

“Wicked� is a phenomenon that keeps growing. But bear in mind that it hasn’t exactly been a critics’ darling. Complaints about its bloated book and overwrought score stuffed with fulsome anthems are hard to refute. The show, which has struck a notable few as a sign of the art form’s decline, might still be breaking box office records in New York, Chicago and London, but let’s not forget that it lost the Tony for best musical to the little puppet show that could, “Avenue Q.�

That said, audiences have found something enormously enthralling in this irreverent prequel to L. Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz,� adapted by Winnie Holzman from Gregory Maguire’s novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,� which offers a revisionist look at those wacky characters from Munchkinland and its neighboring towns. The experience is like stepping back into childhood and being reintroduced to one’s earliest friends by a puckish yet psychologically forgiving guide. The lesson for all to cherish is that wickedness is made, not born.

Layered into this sympathetic perspective is a political critique of contemporary society, with its glorying of image at the expense of substance, its bullying conformist pressures and its paranoid hostility toward those who for one reason or another don’t fit in. It’s the “Wizard of Oz� with an Orwellian twist.

The land on the other side of the rainbow has become a fascist police state. Animals are being rounded up as terrorist suspects and rapidly losing not just their ability to speak out in protest but to communicate intelligibly at all. As for the comparatively privileged humans, it’s a world where money, cover-girl looks and connections rule. Sound familiar?

Glinda, who will eventually float around in a giant bubble and send that ridiculous Dorothy and “Dodo� skipping down the Yellow Brick Road, has been transformed into a perky blond debutante nightmare. The snarky soul of entitlement, she’s a cross between Reese Witherspoon in “Legally Blonde� and Paris Hilton everywhere. Her opening line tells you everything you need to know: “It’s good to see me, isn’t it? No need to respond -- that was rhetorical.�

Her counterpart is Elphaba, the future crone of the more traditional version, who is actually a quite bright and considerate college coed. But her misfortune, like Kermit’s, is to have been born green in a world that looks uneasily on that earthly pigmentation.

Much of the comedy, when it isn’t gleefully reversing expectations about the inhabitants of Oz, stems from the odd-couple antics of these two witches in training, who have the rotten luck of sharing a room at the university in which hocus-pocus is the most sought-after major. And surely a good portion of the show’s appeal lies in the way the freakish and unpopular one gets to discover her worth and feel momentarily beautiful while the pretty, mean one gets to humorously prove that she’s not a total monster.

That there are few songs you’re likely to find yourself singing on the way home doesn’t mean that you won’t be roused by them in the moment. Stephen Schwartz’s music and lyrics are inextricably bound to their story. Not even “Defying Gravity,� the number that brings the first act to a thrilling close, would catch on anywhere perhaps outside of “American Idol.� But it’s a grand showstopper that lets Elphaba roar.

And Espinosa, who hails from Southern California, does so memorably on her broomstick. But what’s more remarkable is her refusal to overplay the role. There’s not a trace of vulgar showmanship here. Even when she’s triumphantly belting, you sense the sensitivity of her long-ostracized character and the hurt lying underneath the transitory joy.

Hilty, who employs operatic vocal flourishes with hilarious panache, is, like Chenoweth, a natural comic. She makes the small things count -- the back and forth flips of her hair, the spin she gives an offhand remark, the wink she slyly offers the audience, who can’t help but light up whenever she’s onstage. And she’s as moving in her rendition of “I’m Not That Girl� as her poignant costar.

Joe Mantello’s staging hasn’t diminished over time. There’s new blood coursing through it. Kristoffer Cusick as Fiyero, the love interest Glinda and Elphaba compete for, only gains in magnetism as he goes from being an arrogant charmer to a heroic revolutionary. And Adam Wylie’s Boq, the handsome munchkin who pines for Glinda, pungently mixes lovelorn emotion with an impatience that understandably turns into bitterness.

Carol Kane plays Madame Morrible, the headmistress and master sorceress who takes Elphaba under her wing once she discovers the extent of this oddly hued pupil’s power. Fortunately, the role welcomes her delightfully quirky qualities while not overtaxing her limited singing ability.

Perhaps Broadway veteran John Rubinstein will add more color to his portrait of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz as he settles into the run. At the moment, though, his is one of the more muted performances, a huckster who can barely get noticed amid all the flamboyant scenery.

And while we’re on the subject of the design, Eugene Lee’s sets, Susan Hilferty’s costumes and Kenneth Posner’s lighting haven’t lost any of their sheen. The show, which truly creates a glittering universe of its own, looks like it was destined to play at the roomy Pantages.

Folks, “Wicked� is here to stay for a while. I’d better reserve my aisle seat for next year -- this is going to be one tough ticket.

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‘Wicked’

Where: Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood

When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays

Price: $32.50 to $150

Contact: (213) 365-3500 or (714) 740-7878

Running Time: 2 hours, 50 minutes

Megan Hilty...Glinda

Eden Espinosa...Elphaba

Jane Leigh Green...Nessarose

Adam Wylie...Boq

Carol Kane...Madam Morrible

Timothy Britten Parker...Dr. Dillamond

Kristoffer Cusick...Fiyero

John Rubinstein...The Wizard

Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Book by Winnie Holzman. Directed by Joe Mantello. Musical staging by Wayne Cilento. Music supervisor Stephen Oremus. Orchestrations by William David Brohn. Sets by Eugene Lee. Costumes by Susan Hilferty. Lights by Kenneth Posner. Sound by Tony Meola. Production stage manager Eric Insko.