Wicked" works magic.

It has all the spectacle we expect from large-scale international musicals ("Les Miserables," "Phantom of the Opera," "Miss Saigon," "Lion King"), such as elaborate stage design, dramatic lighting, dazzling choreography and a powerful score. "Wicked" creates a fantastical world with asymmetrical, whimsical costumes and Oz-ian style. But it is the story that captivates.

The musical is a better, tighter story than Gregory Maguire’s novel, which composer Stephen Schwartz and author Winnie Holzman rewrote so it works on multiple levels.

In the novel, the story is launched by a hurdy-gurdy man’s mechanical "razzle-dazzle spectacle" that comes to town to lead good citizens astray. The musical is that spectacle. We, the good citizens of Hono­lulu, assemble to see the novelty, a trained monkey cranks open the curtain, the mechanical Clock of the Time Dragon roars and the fantasy begins.

We watch safely from our seats in a theater but are transported nonetheless into an alternate universe that reflects and reveals our own. Without even noticing, we fall by way of whirlwind spectacle into Oz and come to care about the characters, the world and what is right or wrong. By the time the curtain closes, we have, as the characters sing, been "changed for good" with a new perspective on life.

The musical takes place wholly within the book’s Clock of the Time Dragon. It begins as a "once-upon-a-time" flashback from a point we thought we knew, but ends by sending us back into our world without returning to the starting point so that we carry the story with us as we leave.

On reflection, "Wicked" is a dark tale, on one level a morality play about good and evil, but it is told with humor and a happy Hollywood ending, making it suitable and enchanting for audiences of all ages. Part of its magic is that people experience the tale differently and walk away with different lessons, so no spoilers here — you have to experience it.

The real wizards of are the ones you can’t see: Schwartz and Holzman. "Wicked" will be the shortest three hours you’ve ever spent in a theater.

"Wicked" covers a lot of ground in those three hours. Like its structural forefather, Baz Luhrman’s "Moulin Rouge," almost every line is a reference, and every twist and turn of its very dense plot is delivered in only a phrase or two, making every word essential. There’s little time for tears in "Wicked," and depth comes not from poignant musical interludes, as in opera and traditional musicals, but from plot development over time.

Because the story moves so quickly, it helps to know the music in advance.

Schwartz’s score is exciting but challenging for performers, with exceptionally demanding vocal roles; only top-notch performers can do it justice. Fortunately, the cast for this tour is stellar, from leads through ensemble.

Dee Roscioli (the Wicked Witch Elphaba) and Patti Murin (the Good Witch Glinda) were captivating, somehow making both characters sympathetic. Every moment was magic: terrific voices, great acting, spot-on comic timing. As charismatic Fiyero, the cocksure, shallow-but-secretly-sensitive love interest, Cliffton Hall of Kailua received a warm aloha ovation, and Kim Zimmer, as the despicable Madame Morrible, made evil delightfully fun.

Schwartz, one of the most eclectic of modern composers, has a distinctive style but conveys characters and settings by borrowing from a variety of musical eras and genres: the Wizard of Oz, an older man, sings in a 1950s, midcentury musicals style; the students at the University of Shiz sing an alma mater hymn; the Wicked Witch is the power lead, and the Good Witch Glinda is a perky vaudevillian, both unabashedly operatic (dramatic versus light lyric soprano).

Schwartz uses a universal style from a world of musics (theater, rock, classical, opera) and of musical techniques (such as rock’s driving rhythms and opera’s leitmotif, musical snippets that signify characters, ideas, or events). Speech and song intertwine seamlessly, asymmetrically. It’s a style that has broad appeal and accounts for the explosive popularity of international musicals.

"Wicked’s" pit orchestra — 15 musicians, nine hired locally — provided an almost subconscious flow, carrying the drama along. The production was at such a high level overall that the minor issues with balancing sound intruded but fortunately passed quickly.

"Wicked" is a thoroughly professional production, as good as any you’ll see on Broadway. Don’t miss it — it’s wicked good.

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Ruth O. Bingham received her doctorate in musicology from Cornell University and has been reviewing the musical arts for more than 25 years.