MOSES JUST ONE OF THE FELLAS IN `TEN COMMANDMENTS'.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic

CAN HE SING?

You'll want to know that first, of course. After all, we're talking about an epic-sized musical version of ``The Ten Commandments'' with a movie star not hitherto known for his vocal prowess playing Moses. Val Kilmer is asked to carry the tablets. Can he also carry a tune?

Passably. He's a steady baritone whose voice loses command and power when it has to climb to the upper reaches. Which isn't often. Even miked, as anyone singing at the Kodak Theatre must be, Kilmer is often leveled by conductor Greg Chun and the percussion- and synthesizer-heavy ``Ten Commandments'' orchestra. When singing his dialogue, which is frequent, he's fine: audible, appropriately dramatic and believable. So Val Kilmer's no Hugh Jackman. Few are. This is not a show killer.

Because here's the peculiar thing about the effects-laden, Vegas-y spectacle that opened at the Kodak Monday en route to a tour and Radio City Music Hall: Moses ... doesn't ... matter. He carries a mean staff and leads the Israelites out of Egypt; he does not lead this musical. Nobody does.

Whether this was the case in ``Ten C's'' original incarnation by Elie Chouraqui in France, or whether the American creative team reconfigured the musical to play to Kilmer and the ensemble's strengths is anybody's guess. At the Kodak, Moses is the man who everybody is celebrating, mourning the loss of or singing about. In choreographer Travis Payne's big chorus numbers - which are among the production's few strengths - the audience practically has to play a game of Where's Waldo to even locate our favorite prophet on stage.

How cuckoo is this? Shortly after Moses is banished from the Egyptian court, members of the palace mournfully gather to sing ``Shadow on This House.'' As Ramses (played by Kevin Earley), Nefertari (Lauren Kennedy) and Bithia (Luba Mason) are mourning the departure of, respectively, their brother, true love and son, the old Pharaoh (Ipale) is brought on stage to die. And nobody cares! They're too broken up over the missing Moses.

One scene later, in Midian, the fetching Zipporah (Nita Whitaker) falls instantly in love with Moses. She marries him in the next scene, and the dance celebrating their nuptuals goes on for what feels like half an hour. (Moses does participate.)

No, it can't be easy to compress this story into a workable, musical couple of hours. Composer Patrick Leonard, lyricist Maribeth Derry and director Robert Iscove assume we have a certain familiarity with the narrative. So the bush burns on the Mountain of Horeb - a couple of times, in fact - but God and Moses never actually converse. The 10 plagues are wrapped into a single effects-laden first-act finale, which leaves the Kodak smelling of fresh fog machine by the end of intermission.

To a person, the company is taking all of this with deadly seriousness - how could they do otherwise? - and visual-effects producer Robert Rang punctuates the action with a blast of light, a cone of fire and a Sega-worthy jig of one of the three giant video boards. Anytime a production is calling this much attention to its technical gimmickry (morphing Ramses' face into a hieroglyph, anyone?) and away from its cast and music, you've got to wonder what's up.

And if we're not giggling over the narrative bombast, the lyrics (``We think his God is real/ You better make a deal,'' ``This will be yesterday's news'') will finish us off.

There are some thrilling voices on display, many of which are permitted to go gospel. Adam Lambert, as an oppressed Israelite looking for a sign from God, tears into ``Is Anybody Listening,'' upstaging Moses in the process. Whitaker on ``The Horns of Jericho'' and petite Alisan Porter with ``Light of a New Day'' upstage pretty much everybody.

But it's hard to compete with a huge budget and spectacle of epic proportions. ``The Ten Commandments'' company members - and Val Kilmer in particular - don't try.

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS - Two stars

Where: Kodak Theatre, 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday; through Oct. 31.

Tickets: $35 to $105. Call [phone].

In a nutshell: Val Kilmer is Moses. Moses is in the background.

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Val Kilmer may be the star, but ``The Ten Commandments'' focuses on its production values and strong ensemble.