STAGE REVIEW : Not Enough Viva! in ‘Viva Yo!’ Musical : The respectable production doesn’t live up to the exclamation point at the end of its title.

To thoroughly get into the spirit of Jay Alan Quantrill’s new musical at the Fountain Theatre, it helps to get inside the mind of a philosopher-mountebank. Set in the courtyard of a 16th-Century monastery, where itinerant actors, Gypsies and assorted travelers have put up for the night, “Viva Yo!” takes us on a musical tour of the emotions that is alternately soothing, ingratiating, affectionate and ribald.

What it is not is particularly exciting, even though Quantrill’s protagonist, one Martin Diaz de Bivar, the scion of a roving and somewhat overbearing performer named Alphonso, goes through a great deal of self-examination when his father collapses in the middle of a scene the company is performing for the motley guests.

The “company” is three people: Martin (nicely performed by Frank Roman), his father (Rique Renaldo) and the tremulous Catalina (Kimberly Herosian), loved by Martin and perhaps Alphonso too.

Also in this courtyard, looking on, are Don Gil de Fortun (Clifton Wells), his daughter Teresa (Donna Pieroni) and her suitor Felipe (John Ray Rouse).

When Alphonso is carried inside the monastery after his collapse, Don Gil offers to take his place. The act of play-acting mysteriously takes over, unleashing an intriguing, unplanned series of interchanges among Teresa, Martin, Catalina, Felipe and Don Gil.

One self-examination leads to another and in the cold light of dawn these five people will have grown a bit sadder and wiser.

These are humble goals in familiar territory, structured to build to a credible climax and outfitted in alluring 16th-Century trappings. The events unravel to an engaging score by Quantrill that possesses at least three attractive ballads (“Wherever Love May Lead,” “One Kiss, My Love” and “Curse the Darkness”) and a quartet of songs that lead to an aptly melancholy finale.

Yet Simon L. Levy’s staging doesn’t break through the inherent docility of Quantrill’s material, written or composed, despite decent performances, a smattering of flamenco choreography by Roberto Amaral (always good to heighten theatricality), mood-setting lighting and scene design by Ken Booth and Jim Barbaley, respectively, and particularly good musical direction by Robert T. Murphy.

In most respects this “Viva Yo!” is a respectable production of a respectably constructed musical, which is precisely its problem: It doesn’t live up to the exclamation point at the end of its title. Neatness is no sin except on stage, where it usually takes a little more chaos to rouse an audience.

* “Viva Yo!,” Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave., Hollywood. Thursdays-Sundays, 8 p.m. Ends March 21. $20; (213) 663-1525. Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes.