Weddings and gay people

Another evening of theater yesterday, this time much more local. I saw Regrets Only by Paul Rudnick put on by the Birmingham Village Players. They're a community, rather than professional, theater and proudly proclaim they are the oldest in the area. Hank Hadley is a fashion designer. His life partner Mike has recently died. He visits his favorite friends Tibby and Jack McCullough in their Manhattan penthouse apartment. Their daughter Spencer announced she is about to get married and asks Hank to design the gown. Flitting through the scene is Myra, the family's maid. Tibby's mother Marietta shows up in the second act. The time is late summer of 2006.

Things get interesting when Jack receives a phone call from the president (though never stated, this would be Bush II). He asks Jack and Spencer (lawyer with emphasis in the Constitution) to come to Washington to help him draft a marriage protection amendment. They're delighted. Hank isn't. That prompts a discussion of love and marriage, especially of Hank's relationship with Mike.

Alas, through much of the first act all three McCulloughs, super rich superficial twits who are clueless of the underclasses, got to be annoying. I should clarify that they were supposed to be annoying. I was rather amused with that portrayal in Birmingham, one of the richest Detroit suburbs.

The pace and laughs picked up in the second act. If you plan to see the show (still one show tomorrow afternoon) you can skip the rest to avoid the spoiler. It is the day before the wedding and Spencer is frantic over the gown and cake. Grandma shows up wearing garbage bags because the staff at her dress shop disappeared with her clothes during her fitting, then she couldn't get a ticket to Broadway (on or off). Tibby can't rouse the florist. Several of Jack's colleagues disappear. Hank explains he made a few discreet phone calls and all the gays and lesbians in Manhattan took the day off. Even Myra reveals she is lesbian and refuses to work. We know weddings can't happen without the efforts of gay people. Only after Jack calls the prez. and to say he will no longer consult for the amendment process does Hank ask his friends to return to work.