The Drama Dept.'s Off-Broadway production of playwright Douglas Carter Beane's new comedy, The Country Club, which has been the troupe's biggest hit since, well, its last Beane play, As Bees in Honey Drown, will end its oft-extended run at the Greenwich House Theatre on Dec. 18. The comedy began previews Sept. 14 at the Greenwich House Theatre and officially opened Sept 29.

The run included a couple of cast changes. Frederick Weller, who played the drunken party boy Hutch, left the cast to accept a film role and was replaced by Drama Dept. ensemble member T. Scott Cunningham (Fit to Be Tied, New England). Also, Amy Sedaris, who appeared as the repressed, repressing, serial party thrower Froggy, departed mid-run. Beginning Oct. 25, Jessica Stone filled her shoes.

Beane had his first critical and commercial success when the Drama Dept. -- the theatre troupe he helped found and oversees as artistic director -- staged his Manhattan comedy, As Bees in Honey Drown. Christopher Ashley, a company member since piloting As Thousands Cheer, directs Club. Cynthia Nixon heads the cast, which also features Amy Hohn, Tom Everett Scott, Callie Thorne Weller and Peter Benson.

The Country Club tells of a woman who returns to her hometown after her marriage goes bad. She then becomes reacquainted with her old high school friends through a series of parties at her family's country club, stretching from New Year's to Christmas.

Nixon, of cable TV's "Sex and the City," has appeared in fully four Drama Dept. productions, including June Moon and Hope Is the Thing with Feathers. Hohn, a company member, appeared in June Moon. Benson was seen in Broadway's Little Me. For information, call (212) 239-6200.

-- By Robert Simonson