SCENIAC: Wicked Wednesday

A decade or more out of high school, one might forget that theater kids exist: those sweet effete boys who don’t know they’re gay yet, loud girls inclined to break into song just cuz.

Then you show up one afternoon at Wicked Wednesday at Universal Studios in Hollywood, where the stars of “Wicked” the musical performed a few numbers from the show, and it all comes flooding back.

If it seems incongruous that Universal Studios would partner with the “Wicked” publicity staff to promote the show, it shouldn’t. John Rubenstein, the actor who plays the wizard in the L.A. production (and who emceed the event), told the crowd, “ ‘Wicked,’ as everyone knows, was workshopped here at Universal 10 years ago.”

See? A connection!

The crowd that gathered in the hot (hot, hot) midday sun to hear Eden Espinosa (Elphaba) and Megan Hilty (Glinda) sing their signature songs -- “The Wizard and I” and “Popular,” respectively -- probably did know everything Rubenstein knows about the play and possibly even more. There were a few casual tourists in the digital-camera-clutching audience of about 250, but there were also a significant number of die-hard “Wicked” lovers.

“Do you know, is that Eden?” Alex Possner, 17, asked me, panting from his late arrival. I assured him it was. “She’s cut her hair since I last saw her,” he said nonchalantly.

And then the moment of glory. The second the performances ended, the “Wicked” fans raced to the autograph line.

Among the first in line were 14-year-old twins Todd and Alex Davis. They’ve attended all four of the Wicked Wednesday events this summer (this was the last one), so they had the drill down cold. When the security guards tried to clear people from waiting in line early, Todd pretended he didn’t know what they were talking about and stuck around.

I was surprised that the twins still hadn’t seen the show at the Pantages Theatre, although they love everything associated with musical theater.

They told me they’d made friends with some of the other Wicked Wednesday regulars, and I asked them to recommend other people to talk to. “Oh, look for our friend with the tiara,” said Alex.

The princess in question turned out to be Cora Cormier. At 14, she looks like the kooky teenager from a Disney movie who might change some shy boy’s life with her stick-straight blond hair, skinny jeans, black Chuck Taylors, glasses and stack of bracelets. She was clutching the WickedGrimmerie -- a hard-cover illustrated book about the show that looks like a yearbook, in which she’s collected autographs.

Cora, who said Espinoza is her idol and that she would like to be a Broadway actress one day, has seen the show only three times, but her friends, almost-16-year-old Raissa Bretania and 19-year-old Nicel Guerra, were the real deal.

How many times has Raissa seen “Wicked”? “Let’s just say I’m going tonight for my fourth time this week,” she said.

As for Nicel, who runs www.myspace.com/wickedlosangeles, she stopped counting at 50.