Bigger is better, so they say.
But that doesn’t necessarily apply to theater productions and the halls we see them in, where good-enough musicals might seem swallowed whole by a cavernous environment.
Happily, the reverse is vibrantly on display at La Mirada Theatre with a production of “On Your Feet!” — the 2015 modestly ambitious, yet peppy jukebox/bio musical subtitled “The Story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan.”
La Mirada’s 1,286-seat theater is big enough to support a sizable show, but intimate enough to convey a nightclub vibe, a suitable spot for experiencing this show’s infectious energy, radiating an unflagging party atmosphere.
This streamlined production is here as part of a 30-+ city national tour of “On Your Feet!” aimed for smaller, regional-sized venues.
While most of the dates — in the Midwest and East — are for a night or two, La Mirada management wisely snagged exclusive rights in Southern California for the rest of October.
Filling seats shouldn’t be a challenge for this one.
“On Your Feet!” is about the mid- and late ‘80s pop group Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine. Their run of Latin-influenced dance hits, which successfully crossed over to a wider (read: whiter) audience, include “Conga,” “Get On Your Feet,” and “Rhythm is Gonna Get You.”
Gloria Estefan’s career was seemingly cut short after a 1990 accident when a truck hit her tour bus, breaking her back.
It was feared for a time that she might end up paralyzed, but fortunately for all she was able to recover and resume recording and performing.
Director and choreographer Luis Salgado — who last year shaped a Spanish-language version of this show — expertly keeps “On Your Feet!” at a suitably feverish pitch.
With a sizzling seven-piece band onstage and a multinational, mostly Hispanic cast in place, this show is its own impressive sound machine.
Leading the way are actors Gaby Albo and Samuel Garnica, in the lead roles as aspiring songwriter Gloria and band manager/Svengali Emilio. Playing the Cuban-American duo, they are a companionable fit in conveying both dedicated music maker and marketer, as well as wife and husband.
A crucial key is that Albo is an impactful vocalist, at the top of her game inhabiting Gloria during a dozen or so live numbers.
Supplemental characters are also ably conveyed.
As Gloria’s mother and grandmother, Kristen Tarrago and Adela Romero are appealing in their roles as complicating parts of Gloria’s home life (Tarrago is additionally a strong singer in the flashback number “Mi Tierra”).
Notable in the very satisfying supporting ensemble is Jake Dylan as Phil, a nebbish record executive and combination roadblock and aid in the duo’s path to success.
It needs be said that dialogue and storyline are the least parts of this entertainment.
In the fashion of most two-act jukebox musicals, there is a five-step, goes-down-easy narrative arc:
Young people have little else except great dreams, ambitions and talent. They struggle for early success, and once achieved, face further struggles to achieve bigger successes.
Meanwhile, there are personal challenges — family and/or emotional relationships dramatically and/or humorously get in the way. Then, a crisis occurs, is met and conquered. This leads to self-realization, triumph and an ultimate, feel-good ending.
Despite the superficiality of the formula, maybe the value in simplicity here is that nothing gets in the way of the music and dancing. “Conga” is not just a song title, but one of the dance variations that an ensemble of more than 15 powers along.
Considerable technical prowess is brought to bear in this staging: Patrick W. Lord’s production design is a shifting swirl of scene-establishing, brightly lit video walls.
Jeannette Christensen’s costumes are a mélange of often bright pastels capturing the overall period look. Ryan J. O’Gara’s Vegas-style hot lighting scheme — often accenting yellow, pinks and peach — drives the mood.
A late first-act dance montage finds Gloria and Emilio as a struggling duo grasping to get wider attention by getting their music in front of people in any way they can think of, in this case at bar mitzvahs, Italian weddings and finally a Shriner convention in Las Vegas.
This sequence leads the cast off the stage and up the aisles into the audience.
In “On Your Feet!”, the party is literally in the house.
‘On Your Feet!’
Rating: 3 stars.
When: Through Oct. 29: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays.
Where: La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada
Tickets: $19-85
Information: 562-944-9801; lamiradatheatre.com
