I walked into the Stage 2 space of the Atlantic Theater Company to see the world premiere production of Eddie and Dave not knowing what the play was about. The music playing was Van Halen’s classic “Running With the Devil.” The walls were plastered with rock and roll memorabilia. I saw a Whisky A Go Go flyer advertising Blondie on February 3, 1977. The Plasmatics were represented and I recalled the chainsaw flailing of “Butcher Baby” in my mind. I squinted to see which band was marketed as “Cooler Than Fuck!!!!” I got up out of my seat to see the ad closer. I had never heard of Big Bang Babies, a 90’s glam metal act. As a college radio disc jockey from that period, I am clearly in the theatrical bullseye for this material.
You may already have guessed that the title of this play references Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth. If these two rock stars are foreign to you – or perhaps an obscure reference from the past like Dinah Shore might be to a millennial – then find something else to do. Playwright Amy Staats admits in the program: “The only thing real about this play is the author’s love for a certain band.” As the MTV VJ narrator, a funny Vanessa Aspillaga further informs that Eddie and Dave is a “memory play; brightly lit, sentimental and not at all realistic.” As a blogger, I’d add: “and not at all good.”
In 1996, Van Halen is presenting an award at the VMAs. Dave had not been on stage with his bandmates in over a decade. Shenanigans ensued, depicted as an on-stage fight. Our VJ guiltily lights a cigarette stating, “such as dirty habit…. nostalgia.” The laughs seem promising right from the start. What follows is a tongue-in-cheek biography of the band from their youth to the VMA reunion. While the description of the play might suggest a fictional story, the tedious detail of their history is far from imaginary.
Over ninety minutes, this amateurishly presented skit covers everything from groupies (“like fruitflies to a ripe banana”) to Eddie’s marriage to Valerie Bertinelli, amusing embodied and roasted by Omer Abbas Salem. Eddie and Dave are played by Ms. Staats and Megan Hill. They capture some of the caricaturized essence of these people but there is not enough variation to sustain a whole play. If you don’t know them beforehand, I presume the mugging will be meaningless.
This production was cast with opposite genders – the women play the men and Mr. Salem is Val – but that potential is not really developed. There are indeed some funny lines early on but the crickets grew in volume and for long stretches as the play progressed. Fun could potentially be had if this cartoonish sketch was staged in a bar with musical interludes and cocktails. As it stands now, dozens more (non-repeated) jokes are desperately needed. More characters from the period would also help as the two non-band members produce the best and funniest moments.
Toward the end, our VJ tells us that if you “see an aging rock star, remember all things great are inherently ridiculous.” Eddie and Dave is definitely ridiculous but, unfortunately, not inherently so.