1)Have a Play Full of Zingers? You Know Whom to Cast
By BEN BRANTLEY
New York Times
Published: November 20, 2006
The temptation for anyone writing about “Regrets Only,” which doubles as a comedy of Park Avenue manners and (far less persuasively) a tract on gay marriage, is to quote as many of those one-liners as space allows and then to try to describe just how Ms. Baranski delivers them.
But if I did that, there wouldn’t be much incentive for thrifty readers to attend this production, would there? They would be able to enliven cocktail parties by reciting Mr. Rudnick’s best jokes without having paid to see “Regrets Only.” And the Manhattan Theater Club, having gotten off to a rocky start this season with the reviled “Losing Louie” on Broadway, could use a hit comedy.
Hank is a wildly successful, gentlemanly designer with a passing resemblance to a real designer who was also wildly successful and gentlemanly and had an alliterative name: Bill Blass, who died in 2002. (Having known Mr. Blass, I can say with some authority that the parallels, like much of “Regrets Only,” are strictly on the surface.)
A hitherto apolitical animal, Hank — whose lover of many years died only months before the play begins — finds himself stirred to righteousness when a member of his intimate social set, a big-time lawyer named Jack McCullough (David Rasche), agrees to consult with President Bush on the drafting of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
What makes the situation especially thorny is that Jack is married to Hank’s closest confidante, Tibby, a professional partygoer and perfectly groomed clotheshorse. (The alarmingly productive William Ivey Long did the sociologically accurate costumes.) Tibby is played by Ms. Baranski, in a long-overdue return to the New York stage.
Anyway, Jack’s involvement with this proposed amendment forces Hank and Tibby to rethink what defines a marriage and, for that matter, a friendship.
Others join the debate: Myra (Jackie Hoffman), the McCulloughs’ madcap maid, who keeps interjecting her opinions in different foreign accents, with accessories to match; Marietta Claypoole (a regally funny Sian Phillips), Tibby’s madcap, much-married mother; and Spencer (Diane Davis), Tibby and Jack’s only mildly madcap daughter, who is about to be married for the first time.
Much madcap merriment — but with a message — ensues when Hank decides to prove that it’s gay people who make the McCulloughs’ world go round. Though Hank’s means of making his point have already been disclosed in advance feature articles in magazines and newspapers (including this one), I am not going to describe it. That would spoil the minimal surprise of the high concept (well, knee-high concept) that shapes the second act.
But too often “Regrets Only” has the unconvincing air of someone yelling, “Save the geese!” while feasting on foie gras. And when people aren’t merely being witty, the play sags.
As accomplished as the cast is, only Ms. Baranski strides the divide between comic intoxication and emotional sobriety. As she proved on the sitcom “Cybill,” she is a master of the deflating putdown. But as in her earlier stage work, she finds the complexity beneath her character’s ostensible silliness.
Tibby’s shiny stylishness never quite conceals the abiding lack of confidence of a girl who grew up with an overpowering, luxury-addicted mother. (When she was anorexic, she says, her mother told her: “Good for you! Keep going!” Yes, I know I promised not to do that. I’m sorry.)
Anyone who has spent time in Park Avenue dining rooms will probably have met someone much like Tibby, as Ms. Baranski portrays her: a woman who, despite a life devoted principally to clothes and menus, is too smart, too damaged and too valiant to be dismissed.
http://theater2.nytimes.com/2006/11/20/theater/reviews/20regr.html
2)Regrets Only: ... And Now for the Neil Simon Side of Paul Rudnick
By Bob Randall
talkingbroadway.com
July 2007
Now, Premiere Stages, located at Kean University, is presenting Rudnick's latest, Regrets Only, a (conservatively) joke-a-minute Neil Simon-esque, stylistically mainstream comedy. Although both authors deal with personal relationships, Simon's best plays seem strictly personal, whereas Rudnick's concerns are more social and political.
Still, Rudnick's topic is hardly mainstream. For months, since the death of his life partner, famed dress designer Hank Hadley has remained withdrawn from his normal social pursuits. Tonight, Hank arrives at the luxurious Fifth Avenue penthouse apartment of his best friend, Tibby McCullough, and her constitutional attorney husband, Jack. Hadley is prepared for a night of society party hopping. On the scene is the McCullough's daughter, Spencer, also a hot shot attorney. Spencer announces that she has become engaged to a much older, super wealthy investment banker and she intends to have a St. Patrick's wedding with "the whole works."
Hank feels betrayed when Jack proudly tells him about being asked by President (George W.) Bush to come up with an iron clad definition which would limit marriage to being between a man and a woman. Jack is thrilled by the honor of the request and asks the willing Spencer to accompany him as his assistant. Only Tibby is simpatico to Hank's objections, but she is not willing to stand up in opposition to Jack and Spencer. As the first act curtain descends, Hank now feels that he is not being treated as a friend and equal, but rather as an entertainer by his old friends. He declines to join them for their planned night out.
In the first act, Rudnick peppers us with one joke after another. Most are very funny, but they are scattershot as Rudnick seems not to care whether or not they are relevant to the action or consistent with character. Omnipresent (constantly shuffling in and out) is the wise cracking maid whose every word, gesture and movement is tied to a gag (comedienne Jackie Hoffman played this role at the Manhattan Theatre Club). The maid opens with an Irish brogue, followed hard on by a French accent and then a Cockney one. When asked why the accents, she responds, "I'm tired of being the only white, Jewish maid in New York." Well, Rudnick's Myra Kesselman may be Jewish, but her prototype reached its apogee over sixty years ago in the screen performances of the resplendently Irish Patsy Kelly.
The first (of two) scene in the second act is the heart of Regrets Only, and it is a corker. It is four months later, and Spencer is trying to make final arrangements for her wedding, but she cannot reach her florist, music coordinator or travel agent. Shortly Hank arrives and informs one and all (including Tibby's dotty mother, Marietta) that, sparked by his anger at Jack and Spencer, he has organized gays to protest their inability to marry by not showing up at their jobs. There are more funny jokes in this extended scene than there are over the entire length of most comedies. Even better, these jokes all relate to the topic at hand. This boycott idea (re: American blacks) was explored in Douglas Ward Turner's 1965 one act, "Day of Absence" and has proven impractical when actually attempted, but it is presented by Rudnick with such sharp and satiric good humor that it plays like a breath of fresh air. My notes contain almost two dozen uproarious jokes from this scene including over a half dozen about the theatre. I'll share one here. Marietta bemoans all the cancelled theatre performances. Asked "what about Matthew Broderick?", she responds, "He wanted to go on, but he was afraid of Nathan Lane."
It seems inexplicable given the high powered cast that performed the play at the Manhattan Theatre Club last fall, but I enjoyed Premiere Stages' Regrets Only more. Particularly outstanding is the warm and casually dignified performance of Douglas Scott Allen as Hank Hadley. Allen conveys the hurt and mystification that Hank feels with small delicate strokes. His recounting of his relationship with and feelings toward his late partner has a deeply human, universal feel which transcends specific sexuality. His Hank is the center and anchor of the play.
Paul Rudnick may not write the best structured plays, but he is certainly one of the funniest, if not the funniest, writer that we have in the American theatre. Of the two Rudnick plays currently running not very far apart in New Jersey, the more mainstream Regrets Only is more likely to appeal to audiences taking their first theatre journey with him.
http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/nj/nj237.html
3)Regrets Only Leaves You with No Regrets
By Joe Monroe II
Theatre Louisville Reviews
Sept 4, 2007
Regrets Only, Pandora's season opener and its third Paul Rudnick play, provokes thought, challenges the status quo, and keeps you laughing. Pandora has a winner.
Paul Rudnick is known as the quintessential writer of gay comedy. I, personally, didn’t know that there was such a thing as “gay” comedy, and I am still not sure if I would classify this play as one. It is a satirical comedy that is truly funny. Rudnick likes to deal with social and political issues, and this show tests relationships, loyalties, and convictions on both of those levels.
Scene one of three introduces most of the characters. Best friends Tibby (played by Carol Tyree Williams) and Hank (a famous, gay dress designer whose partner has recently passed -- played by Dale Strange) are planning a night on the town, party hopping to various upper-class social events. Spencer (Sarah Meuler), a big-time lawyer, enters bragging about her seven-figure salary and announces to everyone that she is marrying an investment banker. In the same scene, Jack (Sean Childress), husband of Tibby, father of Spencer and also a big-time attorney, receives a call from the President of the United States, asking him to help change the Constitution and come up with a clear definition of marriage that would limit it to being between a man and a woman. Jack takes the challenge and invites Spencer to help him. Spencer immediately begins to ask the question, “What is marriage?”k feels his friendship is betrayed by Jack and Spencer for even considering the President's offer. Scenes two and three deal with Hank putting a plan in place to show his friends and others what the world would be like without gay people. Although the ending is predictable, the jokes and characters keep the audience's attention.
This show has a great cast, with its most memorable character being Myra (Greylyn Gregory), the only white Jewish maid in New York. She keeps the first scene going by being omnipresent, entering and exiting while delivering punch lines in various accents. Later, other things are revealed about her character, but she is consistently the comic relief and a breath of fresh air when scenes are getting too serious or starting to drag.
Michael Drury showcases excellent directing skills as he brings this Rudnick play to life in the beautiful Bunbury Theatre. Missing this show would be a "regrettable" mistake.
http://theatrelouisville.org/reviews2007/jm_regrets.php
4)Regrets Only
Director James Brannan
July 2007
Capehouse Theatre
There is no review for this show, this a character breakdown and cast bio. It was the only thing I could find for a review.
https://secure.kisscomputing.com/capeplay1/RegretsPhotosBios.htm#RegretsPhotosBios
