Eddie & Dave by Amy Staats

Starring Vanessa Aspillaga, Megan Hill, Omer Abbas Salem, Amy Staats, and Adina Verson

Scenic Design by Reid Thompson

Costume Design by Montana Levi Blanco

Wigs by Cookie Jordan

Lighting Design by Jiyoun Chang

Sound Design by Palmer Hefferan

Original Composition by Michael Thurber

Production Stage Manager: Megan Dickert

All photos taken by Ahron R. Foster for the Atlantic Theater 2019 production.

P R E S S:

“MIND-BENDING GLEE. IN A WORLD OF GLAM METAL, PEACOCKS OF ANY SEX CAN PRANCE TO THE EARSPLITTING SOUND OF POWER CHORDS.” 

-       Ben Brantley, The New York Times

The playwright Amy Staats’s teasing tribute to the cock-rock band Van Halen, directed by Margot Bordelon, offers a smart and funny take on a variety of themes: nostalgia, the creative process, rock-star insecurity. But its masterstroke is to cast women as the band members, a choice that effortlessly transforms the play into a vivacious dissertation on the performance of gender. Staats herself is oddly touching as Eddie, an innocent often lost in the wilds of stardom; Adina Verson is hilariously businesslike as his drummer brother, Alex; and, most impressively, Megan Hill nails the restless envy underlying David Lee Roth’s manic, hammy charisma. The costumes and wigs, by Montana Levi Blanco and Cookie Jordan, are appropriately appalling. IN A BETTER WORLD, THIS IS WHAT A BROADWAY JUKEBOX MUSICAL WOULD LOOK LIKE.

-       Rollo Romig, The New Yorker

“HILARIOUS, UNEXPECTEDLY TOUCHING & ALTOGETHER DELIGHTFUL REIMAGINING OF ONE OF THE CLASSIC ROCK’S LAST, BEST EPIC RIVALRIES. A REQUIEM FOR A BYGONE TIME” 

-       Elysa Gardner, New York Stage Review 

“Eddie and Dave makes spectacular use of its female actors in male roles, under Margot Bordelon’s super- sharp direction. They have that androgynous thing down pat, what Mick Jagger personified before he turned 30.” 

-       Robert Hofler, The Wrap

“A BIG-HEARTED, UNABASHEDLY GOOFY ROCK BIOPLAY! EDDIE AND DAVE THROWS US BACK TO THE GLORY DAYS OF 1980S HAIR METAL. The gender-swapped performances go to 11. The gonzo Hill shows up in a dream sequence wearing assless scrubs, and that’s one of her more sober moments; Salem is slinky and hilarious as Bertinelli. Director Margot Bordelon and her design team, give Eddie and Dave absolutely everything they can.”

-       Helen Shaw, Time Out New York 

“A HILARIOUS FABLE OF ROCK’N’ROLL! 100 MINUTES THAT ARE INDEED AS MAGICAL AS THEY ARE RIDICULOUS.  Director Margot Bordelon stages the tale in an outrageous and ever-shifting arena: Reid Thompson's versatile set is decorated with memorabilia, including a framed photo of bassist Michael Anthony, the fourth member of Van Halen. The brilliant use of drag isn't the only thing about Eddie and Dave that recalls the work of late Ridiculous Theatrical Company founder Charles Ludlam, who once wrote in a vein similar to the opening line of this review, "You are a living mockery of your own ideals. If not, you have set your ideals too low." Like Ludlam (whose most notable roles included Marguerite Gautier and a thinly veiled Maria Callas), Staats is a playwright-performer who clearly has deep respect for her subject and the artistic risks he took when others wouldn't. Van Halen produced rock with symphonic ambition, something that feels lacking in most new music today. It may be ridiculous, but the world would be less vibrant without it.

-       Zachary Stewart, Theatermania