Being the theater guy that I am, I'm always more than a little interested to tally _ around this time of year _ which of the acting nominees for the Oscars, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, etc. I've seen perform live. We're talking either L.A stages (where I see a bunch of plays), New York (not so often), London (occasionally).

The Brits, of course, are frequently hopping back and forth between the screen and the live stage, usually proclaiming their theat-uh roots along the way as though somehow the bigger paycheck of a film gig doesn't do a thing to feed their artistic soul.

Whatever.

I'm sitting here backstage at SAG, looking over the nominees. Several of these nominees I've interviewed (kinda cool), and a few more I've seen perform (increased cool).

A sampling:

Judi Dench (of "Notes of a Scandal," "Mrs Henderson Presents," etc.) : I was told many years ago that her work on stage is not to be believed. And, yes, she was rather remarkable in a production of Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra" that I caught back in the late 1980s in the Royal National Theatre in London. She played Cleo opposite Anthony Hopkins's Marc Antony. Before accepting the assignment, she was reported to have asked director Peter Hall something like "Are you certain you want a menopausal dwarf" playing this role. Hall did.

Helen Mirren was in a production of Alan Ayckbourn's "Woman in Mind" in 1992 at the Tiffany Theatre in Hollywood. Didn't see it. Wish I had. She's also appeared in "Dance of Death" with Ian McKellen on Broadway in "Orpheus Descending" in London and, like Dench, she played Cleopatra at the National Theatre (with Alan Rickman). This 1998 production was, it should be noted, 33 years after Mirren played the same role in Britain in her stage debut. She was 19.

Cate Blanchett had to forego presenting George Clooney with his supporting actor Oscar in 2005 because she was wrapped up playing a much panned production of Ibsen's "Hedda Gabbler." (No, I didn't see it).

Caught Annette Bening in Chekhov's "A Cherry Orchard" about a year ago at the Mark Taper Forum. In fact, I sat behind one row behind Warren Beatty and much of the Bening/Beatty clan. I also saw TV or miniseries best actress nominee Cloris Leachman in a touring production of "Showboat" at the Ahmanson Theatre.

The TV stars frequently come from the stage. Edie Falco of "The Sopranos" has performed in New York a few times: "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune," "Side Men," and, most recently, "Night Mother." I caught "Weeds'" Mary Louise Parker not in her star making "Proof" turn, but in "Prelude to a Kiss" and in a God awful Terrence McNally comedy called "Up in Sarratoga" in San Diego.

Pre Karen, Megan Mullally did indeed sport that helium enhanced voice when she worked opposite Matthew Broderick in the musical "How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying." And before she went "Desperate," Felicity Huffman was a regular David Mamet player. I saw her in a small show titled "Out of Purgatory" in San Diego.

I'll recount the male nominees I've seen in a later entry.