"Wicked" is essentially a critic-proof play. Like the recent Indiana Jones and "Sex and the City" flicks, a reviewer could pen a scathing review and it wouldn't have the slightest effect. Because of the subject matter, people will flock to the theater anyway, eager to be a part of something that transcends entertainment and becomes a kind of social phenomenon.

When "Wicked" opened on Broadway in 2003, critics dismissed its silly, somewhat confusing plot; the musical went on to win Tony Awards and shatter box office records. Similarly, I could tell you that the Rochester Broadway Theatre League's staging of "Wicked" is the worst show to ever hit town, and the crowds at the Auditorium would still be as thick as they were last weekend, with nary an empty seat in the house.

Thankfully, RBTL's touring production of the Broadway smash isn't the worst. However, it's also not as good as anticipated. It's not even the best thing RBTL put on this season (that'd be the superlative "Avenue Q"). Perhaps it's because, even though I'd never seen it, I'd become so familiar with the musical's more ubiquitous numbers that my expectations were high. Maybe it's because I've loved the Oz stories and their characters since I devoured the books as a kid. But while it was a reliably entertaining two and a half hours, the production never quite defied enough gravity to live up to the hype.

Much of "Wicked"'s success comes from its source material - or, more accurately, its source's source material. The show is an adaptation of the book of the same name, which is itself a post-modern take on L. Frank Baum's classic "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." The original Oz stories have been in the public domain for years, and any writer anywhere can now use the characters and settings freely. The book's author, Gregory Maguire, chose to focus on the relationship between the two central witches - Good Witch of the North Glinda, and the Wicked Witch of the West, to whom the author gives the quirky name Elphaba - and their "untold" previous relationship. Through that exploration he flips the "Wizard of Oz" script significantly, casting the women in entirely different lights and suggesting a subtext to the story that Baum surely never intended (and likely would never have condoned).

The play picks up with chipper overachiever Glinda (think Reese Witherspoon's Tracy Flick from "Election" with a magic wand) and kindly but sullen outcast Elphaba meeting on their first day of school at Shiz, an Ozian university. Through a misunderstanding, the two opposites are forced to room together, and what starts out as a contentious relationship based on loathing - pure, unadulterated loathing, as one of the show's best numbers puts it - in short order becomes a deep friendship after both parties see through the other's exteriors: Glinda's annoying super-perfect affectations, Elphaba's antisocial tendencies and sickly green hue, a result from a complicated, scandalous birth.

Of course, this is musical theater, so the happy friends can't stay that way for long. Obstacles come in the form of the predictable (a handsome love interest that quickly transforms into a triangle) and the unexpected, as a heavy political current sweeps through the production. We're talking subplots concerning animal rights, government conspiracies, and fascism. Oh, and magic plays a part. As do singing and dancing.

Since "The Wizard of Oz" remains one of the most enduring fantasy stories of all time, the play wisely trades on that story, working in a number of crowd-pleasing references. A poppy field fills the background of one scene, a rhyme to the familiar line "lions and tigers and bears, oh my!" elicits some laughs, some very eye-catching footwear makes an appearance, and an unlikely character comments that there's no place like home. These teases are charming when snuck into the first act, but by the second the references become so ham-fisted that they border on insulting. (Did you get that the lion cub released in Act I was very scared by Elphaba's powers? You will by Act II!)

Hardcore fans of the original books may also chafe at the massive character twists in the second act, which would logically alter the way relationships play out in the original "Wizard of Oz" story. The playwrights acknowledge this and have the characters themselves excuse the changes not as deliberate reworkings of the "Oz" mythos, but merely as "looking at things from another perspective." It's a nice try, but some of the decisions - clever though they may be - left me a little irritated.

But ultimately, continuity isn't the point. The point is to tell a reasonably smart, entertaining story using characters that just about every American is familiar with. And on that count, "Wicked" succeeds. The score, however, is uneven. It contains some absolutely smashing numbers, including "Popular," "What Is This Feeling?" and the show-stopper "Defying Gravity," possibly the most dramatic Act I finale I've ever seen. But many other songs just kind of lie there, or serve only to move the plot along ("Something Bad" and "A Sentimental Man"). Not helping matters was a soft performance by the chorus. On the night I went, "Dancing Through Life" was kind of a mess, and the lyrics on "No One Mourns the Wicked" were largely indecipherable.

Strong leads can make an entire show, and that's the case here. Katie Rose Clarke plays Glinda as part Cher Horowitz, part Elle Woods, and part Dot Goddard from "Mad TV." She is the spazziest homecoming queen you ever did see, and she is awesome, with equally impressive pipes. Carmen Cusack is magnetic in the role of Elphaba, and although she struggled a bit in the demanding "Defying Gravity" number, she generally matches Clarke in the voice department. The hidden gem of the show is Deedee Magno Hall in the tertiary role Nessarose, Elphaba's tragic sister. Hall has one big song and one big scene, and she tears through both with alarming intensity.

Despite its flaws, "Wicked" is a fine example of modern American musical theater. It wisely mines the past to create something new and inspiring - and make no mistake, Elphaba's story is inspiring - while captivating the audience with eye-catching effects and scenery, and a couple of infectious tunes. It's a crowd-pleaser, through and through, and chances are that if you're interested enough to read all of this, you've probably already got your tickets. Enjoy. 

"Wicked"

Through June 15

Rochester Broadway Theatre League

Auditorium Theatre, 885 E Main St.

$34.50-$69.50 | 222-5000, rbtl.org