MAKE no mistake about it – this “Wicked the Musical” revival  is the most spectacular show you’ll see on stage in Australia for years to come.

A stupendous Broadway hit, this revival looks like being money in the bank for its promoters. Set over 54 scenes and locations by the original director Jo Mantello, “Wicked” is a celebration of theatrical excess – the costumes by Susan Hilferty are estimated to have cost over $3 million.

The Emerald City appears resplendent on a large scale, almost overpowering the relatively tiny Reg Livermore as the Wizard of Oz, who nonetheless drew ecstatic cries from the house.

The lighting rig is stupefying, the props, dominated by a huge red-eyed dragon bearing down on us all, are elaborate, and almost every scene drew oohs and aaahs from the well-primed audience, paying good money to feast their eyes.

The cast, headed up by Lucy Durack as Glenda the Good Witch and Jemma Rix as Elphaba, the misunderstood Wicked Witch of the West, is a testament to the wealth of theatrical talent in Australia.

But alas, to what end?

Most readers will be aware that “Wicked” is a kind of fan fiction prequel to “The Wizard of Oz.” With oblique references to Dorothy and her little dog Toto and an elaborate back story as to how The Tin Man, The Lion and The Scarecrow came to be as they are, this is essentially a musical about a musical, a fairy floss confection of spectacle over matter.

Small matter that the book by Holzman endeavours to introduce a note of social satire, with references to “regime change” and Glinda the two-dimensional saccharine blonde made to look like a Republican candidate’s wife.

There’s also an overworked joke about how to pronounce the name ‘Glinda’ and an effort to turn the entire Land of Oz into a freshman college class. The Harry Potter films got away with making Hogwarts look like a British public school, but this stab at campus humour is shortlived and unresolved.

Maggie Kirkpatrick as Mme Morrible does fair service as a kind of pantomime dame, but Livermore is pitifully underused, except for a rare showstopping number, ‘Wonderful” (as in the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, get it?). Apart from that, I couldn’t remember a single song after I left the theatre.

If you’re unfamiliar with “The Wizard of Oz” – and increasingly there are members of the community who have never seen the film – there’s a real question concerning what the show is all about, for it is scarcely an exploration of wickedness or goodness.

A good musical should tug at the heartstrings, but “Wicked” rarely does that.

It must be said that the extraordinary Jemma Rix as Elphaba did achieve a level of credibility as the odd person out in an anodyne world. It remains for another director in another show to make good use of her unusual talents and voice. As her opposite number Fiyero, Steve Danielson also created a character with a modicum of individuality.

But after several hours, I was seized with inescapable feeling that I had been wasting my time.

So, prepare to be dazzled by spectacle, but don’t forget what “Chicago’s” Billy Flynn sings – you might find at the end of the night that the Razzle Dazzle was all about nothing.