Hands on a Hardbody, which is making its regional debut at Keegan Theatre, has a premise tailor-made for a musical: a competition in which 10 participants put their hands on a big red pickup truck, and the person who keeps their mutts on it the longest wins the vehicle. (It’s based on a documentary of the same name.) There’s one setting, a ton of built-in drama, and the characters introduce themselves to the audience and one another simultaneously. Keegan’s production is achingly earnest and likely won’t convert non-musical theater lovers into the fore, but certainly scratches the itch for folks who love a couple hours of song and dance.

The biggest thing you need to know about the prized truck is that it is a Metaphor with a capital M and a bold underline. It stands in for the American dream, the ability to escape, and the tantalizing idea that life could be entirely different if you just had a spot of luck. This metaphor run over viewers like, well, a truck, and that’s not the only lack of subtlety on display. The songs in Hands on a Hardbody tackle a bunch of hot-button issues—xenophobia, globalization, veterans’ issues upon returning from combat. While the actors are game and the live pit orchestra carries the tune, the music from Trey Anastasio (of Phish) and Amanda Green doesn’t hold up its end of the bargain—the melodies are just not inventive enough to shoulder the burden of the weighty topics.

To be fair, that’s more of an issue with the play itself than with Keegan’s undertaking. The Dupont neighborhood theater brings a sense of enthusiasm to the proceedings, and its small scale resembles like the kind of American can-do spirit that the play romanticizes. If it delights you to watch people sing while performing choreography around a truck (count me among this group), you will find much to enjoy in Hands on a Hardbody. But its sincerity doesn’t delve beyond the surface level. To wit: in the closing song, the cast sings, “If you want something, keep your hands on it.” They’re talking about the truck, to be sure, but it means so.much.more. If only that were good advice.

Hands on a Hardbody runs through April 6 at Keegan Theatre. Tickets from $20-62. Show is 2 hours and 30 minutes with one 15-minute intermission.