Hu headlines 'The Vagina Monologues'

Advertiser Staff

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'The Vagina Monologues' 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; 6 and 9 p.m. May 23; 5 and 8 p.m. May 24; 2 and 7 p.m. May 25 Hawai'i Theatre $20-$45 528-0506; group discounts (12 or more, except May 24), 732-7733. Note: $100 tickets include a pre-show dinner at Compadres Bar & Grill at Ward Centre, prime seating at the performance, trolley transportation to and from the show, and a cast party after the production back at Compadres. Reservations are available by calling PACT at 847-3285.

"The Vagina Monologues" returns to Hawai'i Theatre next week with a Kamehameha Schools grad taking center stage.

Kelly Hu, who hasn't done theater since her days at Kamehameha, has been keeping busy with television and movie roles (she's Lady Deathstrike in the new movie "X2: X-Men United" and was in "The Scorpion King" before that). Now she's headlining the hormone-therapy hit.

The play, based on interviews with 200 women, explores the emotions women feel about their vaginas in sometimes funny, sometimes painful performances.

"The Vagina Monologues" grew from an off-Broadway hit to a cultural phenomenon that has been performed in more than 40 countries.

Hu will appear in the Honolulu production with New York actors Starla Benford, who was in the first national tour of "The Vagina Monologues," and Amy J. Carle, who was in the 2002 cast when the show made its debut in Honolulu.

The show partners with local charities to raise money to stop violence against women and girls. Opening night benefits Parents And Children Together, a family services agency.