Entertainment

Celebrate ‘Leap’ here

Even if you haven’t caught the movie it’s based on, you can see everything coming a mile away in “Leap of Faith.” The only surprise in this predictable, mushy new Broadway musical is how ridiculously fun it is.

The odds were bad, as the show arrived in a cloud of negative buzz: The original director was ditched in California, along with leading lady Brooke Shields. There were rumors that star Raul Esparza (“Company”) was too sinister as Jonas Nightingale, the sham faith healer played by a convivial Steve Martin in the 1992 film.

And the truth is, he kinda is.

Bamboozling the citizens of a small Kansas town at a raucous tent revival, Esparza’s Jonas, strapped in a stylish black suit, looks like Satan’s little helper.

And yet you can also see why the good people of Sweetwater would so eagerly swallow Jonas’ hooks: He’s got some bright, snazzy lures.

First, our man does appear to have a divine gift for reading his marks. That’s only because his Googling whiz sister, Sam (Kendra Kassebaum), secretly feeds him intel.

But the real reason for his success is that those traveling missionaries bring on some serious showmanship, snappily directed by Christopher Ashley and choreographed by Sergio Trujillo.

Esparza is a charismatic bandleader, and he tirelessly sells the peppy pop-gospel songs by Disney stalwart Alan Menken and Glenn Slater — the team that also brought us “Sister Act” and its freakishly similar inspirational numbers. A rousing backup choir called the Angels of Mercy helps.

Aside from stick-in-the-mud theatergoers, the only one who remains unconvinced by this high-energy roof-raising is the sheriff, Marla McGowan (Jessica Phillips).

This sexy heathen in skintight jeans also happens to be a widow with a young son, Jake (Talon Ackerman), who’s in a wheelchair. Oh, and Sweetwater is experiencing a severe drought. There is zero suspense as to what’s going to happen — Janus Cercone and Warren Leight’s book never strays from the obvious — yet the show manages to be satisfying.

Marla quickly susses out that beneath his sparkly jackets, Jonas is a troubled soul. “Someone, somewhere hurt you bad,” she sings with insight worthy of “The Mentalist.”

Marla isn’t the only obstacle Jonas and his Angels face on the way to their foretold redemption. Another is Isaiah (the fantastic Leslie Odom Jr.), the righteous son of Angels bookkeeper and star belter Ida Mae (Kecia Lewis-Evans).

Rest assured that everybody eventually comes around in one way or another. This isn’t a Disney production, but it might as well be.

If there’s a lesson in “Leap of Faith,” it’s that high-energy entertainment is the perfect sweetener: It makes everything go down, whether it’s a rascally preacher or a Broadway musical with a clunky book.