Review: The Morini Strad

by Rom Watson
c. Nov. 18, 2012

The Morini Strad belongs to that subgenre of play wherein a younger person is forced to spend time with an older person, they overcome their differences, and each ends up learning from the other.  Examples include Educating Rita, Visiting Mr. Green, Old Wicked Songs, Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, and Grace and Glorie.  The Colony Theatre has produced most of these plays, and is now running The Morini Strad, by Willy Holtzman.  Though not nearly as moving or rewarding as their production of Grace and Glorie, it is an interesting play that has been given the Colony’s usual handsome production.

Though likable, and containing some very good lines, one wishes the play were stronger.  Especially since it is based on a true story.  Some of the humor works, but some of it, such as the Lennon/Lenin mix-up, is tired.  At the end, the play resorts to first-person narration, which feels like a cheat.  The audience might have been better served had less time been devoted to setting up the situation and more time devoted to the developments at the end. Like the secrets of the main character, the play turns out to be interesting without being dramatic.

Mariette Hartley stars as Erica Morini, owner of a Stradivarius that is in need of repair.  She’s believable, but should have been larger than life in this role.  Adding more flamboyance at the beginning would have served to elicit more sympathy for her physical decline at the end.  Erica is meant to be prickly and imperious, but Hartley settles for cranky and self-absorbed.  Which may sound like a quibble, but it’s the difference between being good and being great.  And though she nails many moments, Hartley could have been better.  Her highs could have been higher and her lows lower.  Sometimes it’s better to risk alienating the audience at the beginning so they have farther to journey as you reel them in over the course of play.  Perhaps she should study Luise Rainer’s performance in the 1997 film of Dostoevsky’s The Gambler.  Rainer can convey imperiousness in a way that makes you gawk at her sense of entitlement at the same time you’re charmed by her vulnerability.

David Nevell is quite good as Brian, the violin repairman Erica hires.  He overuses the gesture of putting his forehead in his left hand, but that’s a minor complaint.  He grounds the play with his likeable presence.

The third person in the cast is talented violinist Geneva Lewis, who portrays two of Erica’s students and Erica as a young girl.  She’s well cast, and a welcome element in the show.

It’s a shame she didn’t play more frequently, as the set changes took an inordinate amount of time to accomplish relatively little.  With a musician in the cast, one would think her services would be used to provide set change music, but this was not the case.  Hopefully these set changes will shorten as the run continues, as they disrupt and dissipate the audience’s attention.

Despite any shortcomings of the play, the opening night audience did give it a standing ovation.  Though standing for the curtain call tends to be done as a matter of course here in Los Angeles, it is still an indication of an audience’s involvement.

The Morini Strad plays through December 16.  (No performances Thanksgiving week.)   For tickets, call the Colony Theatre Box Office at 818-558-7000, ext. 15, or go to www.ColonyTheatre.Org

Reviewed for Grace Notes.  http://www.gracenotesstage.com/