THEATER REVIEW : Sluggish ‘42nd Street’ Shuffles Off but Never Arrives : At La Mirada, bulky melodrama treads on those famed dancing feet, dissipating the energy vital to distract from the loving but cornball plot.

LA MIRADA — Why is “42nd Street” revived again and again? Perhaps because it serves up the romance of a Broadway that for all intents and purposes is extinct. It certainly represents the kind of theater that the Whittier-La Mirada Musical Theatre Assn. long has embraced. One only wishes that director-choreographer Jon Engstrom’s staging could be the love letter it wants to be.

Things starts smashingly with a chorus line tapping up a storm during auditions for impresario Julian Marsh’s bound-for-Broadway “Pretty Lady.” Is that stage floor vibrating? Sure looks like it, as Engstrom’s corps pounds out the steps with feverish intensity. Before a word is uttered, the message is clear: There’s nothing on earth like a show.

Young Peggy (Holly Bosil) arrives late for the auditions. The company takes a liking to her, except for Marsh (John Wood)--until he sees her dancing on the street. “42nd Street” is full of scenes like this, spuriously unlikely show-biz fantasy moments that are delicious victories for the underdog. Not only does Peggy come out of nowhere to get into the show, but the show becomes hers after aging prima donna, Dorothy Brock (Laura Killingsworth), twists her ankle during dress rehearsal.

Engstrom reproduces the original direction and choreography by Gower Champion, which seems right, as this is Champion’s very personal take on Broadway’s world of winners and losers (even though the music is by Harry Warren, the lyrics are by Al Dubin, and Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble’s book is based on Bradford Ropes’ novel).

But in this production, the melodrama clomps rather than dances along, and the energy dissipates. If “42nd Street” moves swiftly enough, one might not notice or mind how awfully ham-fisted the plot is, but by the time this Peggy is sweating out pre-opening night jitters, we’re sweating out a show that has become an endurance test.

It’s not all Bosil’s fault. Clearly she has a hoofer’s heart (though she has a surer sense of Peggy-as-dreamer than of Peggy-as-star). Killingsworth has the faded star act down cold--perhaps too cold for the good of this not-very-warm show. Wood’s stern taskmaster is all business, a performance by an actor clearly relishing the chance to play director.

The rest of the cast, perhaps by contrast, makes little impression at all, though Hank Wilson whoops it up as Dorothy’s dumb Texas sugar daddy, and Marilyn Christensen makes the most of a few comic moments as Maggie. Despite nice sound from Stephen Gothold’s orchestra and a good look thanks to Raun Yankovich’s lights and James Roy’s costumes, this “42nd Street” feels more lulled by the lullaby of Broadway than excited by it.

* “42nd Street,” La Mirada Theatre, 14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada. Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Saturday matinee at 2:30. Ends Saturday. $23-25. (714) 994-6310 or (310) 944-9801. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes. John Wood: Julian Marsh

Holly Bosil: Peggy Sawyer

Laura Killingsworth: Dorothy Brock

Marilyn Christensen: Maggie Jones

Eric Gunhus: Billy Lawlor

Ken McGanty: Bert Barry

Kami Seymour: Annie

Hank Wilson: Abner Dillon

Doug Vasquez: Andy Lee

Geoffrey Michael Draper: Pat Denning

Neal Fugate: Mac/Doc/thug

A Whittier-La Mirada Musical Theatre Assn. production of Gower Champion’s musical, directed and choreographed by Jon Engstrom. Musical direction: Stephen Gothold. Lights: Raun Yankovich. Costumes: James Roy. Sound: Chuck McCarroll.