STAGE SCENE
'Monologues' brings Swit back to Islands

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor

Hot tip from "Hot Lips": Check in your misconceptions at the door.

	'The Vagina Monologues'
•	A play by Eve Ensler; Loretta Swit takes over from Mackenzie Phillips on Tuesday
	7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 5 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, and 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays, through Feb. 3
•	Hawai'i Theatre
•	$20-$45, at box office and Ticket Plus outlets; discounts for Hawai'i Theatre members, students, seniors and military
•	528-0506, 526-4400; group discounts (12 or more), 732-7733
	On Maui
•	Brooke Shields joins the cast
•	Feb. 5 through 10, at Castle Theatre, Maui Arts & Cultural Center
•	Curtain times: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday
•	Added performances: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 5 and 6
•	$10-$45
•	(808) 242-7469

"It's a fabulous piece of wonderful writing," Swit said of Ensler's creation, which she inhabits for a week at the Hawai'i Theatre starting Tuesday, succeeding Mackenzie Phillips. "It's given me an opportunity to play a lot of different characters and have fun, too."

She was in the New York company and has also played the show in Chicago. "Reaction is pretty much the same everywhere," she said.

Although author Ensler is a feminist, Swit said it isn't a feminist play. "The title gives men the misconceptions," she said. "It's not a dirty joke, it's serious theater, but it's funny, too. I'd say that if you go, you get overwhelmed by the power of it."

Swit is no stranger to the stage or Hawai'i. She has an attachment to the Islands, having appeared in the one-person show, "Shirley Valentine," and had guest roles in "Hawai'i Five-O."

She has a string of varied credits on stage, including musicals such as "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" and "Mame," and romantic comedies such as "Same Time, Next Year," "The Odd Couple" and "Love Letters."

Audiences are "pretty much the same everywhere," Swit said about response to "Monologues." "I'm happy to say that it's half-and-half, men and women, on Friday and Saturday night, which means it's couples, and it's kind of a date-night thing, and matinees are generally mostly women, which is true with traditional theater."

She said she doesn't miss TV, because there's not much there that whets her appetite, so she does as much film and stage work as possible.

She has an open mind about dramas and musicals, explaining: "What I prefer is a good script."

And, she admits, she can't shake off her "Hot Lips" notoriety. "It's hard to escape something that's been so successful for 11 years, and I love it."

Correction: Ticket prices at the Hawaii Theatre for "The Vagina Monologues" are $20-$45. Incorrect information was included in a previous version of this story. Playdates for the show have been extended at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center's Castle Theatre, with 7:30 p.m. performances added Feb. 5 and 6.