Je Regrette

Tibby McCullough is Manhattan royalty: fashionable, sociable and voluble. Her husband, David, is a powerful attorney, her daughter is engaged, and her best friend is fashion-designer icon Hank Hadley. Life isn't just good, it's grand. But when David is enlisted by the president to help draft anti-gay marriage legislation, Hank helps Tibby to see that there comes a time to put down the drink, stop slinging bon mots about the drawing room and take action. Actually, they decide there's no reason to put down the drinks, and the bon mots should still be slung, but they should be a bit more acidic and aimed at more important targets. Paul Rudnick's zesty little comedy Regrets Only skewers the manners and mores of the socially prominent while making a statement about the people who keep these people prominent. Stray Dog Theatre opens its new season with Regrets Only at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday (September 11 through 27, with a bonus 2 p.m. matinee on the final Saturday) at the Tower Grove Abbey (2336 Tennessee Avenue; 314-865-1995 or www.straydogtheatre.com). Tickets are $18 to $20.
Thursdays-Saturdays. Starts: Sept. 11. Continues through Sept. 27, 2008