Unless you’re an actor yourself, you probably don’t care where somebody who’s performing for you lives. But a good many members the audience at the Kevin Kline awards on Monday night were actors, and it may have given them pause to see how many of the top awards went to actors who don’t live here.

Hurrah for Jeffrey D. Pruett, the only St. Louisan to win an award for outstanding lead actor or actress. He was one of winners of the Kline for Outstanding Lead Actor in a musical, honoring his performance as the Leading Player in “Pippin” at Stray Dog. Pruett tied with Lewis J. Stadlen,  who won for his portrayal of scheming Max Bialystock in “The Producers” at the Muny. Stadlen also played Max on Broadway and on the national tour.

The Kline for outstanding lead actress in a musical went to Tina Fabrique, who played Ella Fitzgerald in ”Ella.” In the play category, top honors went to Erika Rolfsrud for her performance as a powerful agent in “The Little Dog Laughed” and to David Whalen as an Irish terrorist in “The Lieutenant of Inishmore.” All of those were Rep shows; like the Muny’s Stadlen, Fabrique, Rolfsrud and Whalen live elsewhere.

Obviously, there’s no requirement that Kline-winning performers should come from St. Louis, only that the productions for which they are nominated are created here. And nobody wants to get involved in the jurisdictional red tape that residency requirements lead to. What about the actor who used to live here? What about the actor who might move here? What about - and this is the biggie - the right actor for the role?

Once you throw zip codes into the mix, directors at theaters that can afford to bring in professional actors from someplace else have their hands tied behind their backs. They need the freedom to bring in the actors they want to work with, presumably the actors they think will do best in their shows. 

In the end, theater is about the audience, not the actors. When you set out to satisfy your audience, geography probably isn’t uppermost in your mind. Other issues - such as availability, pay schedules and, oh yeah, talent - come first.

On the other hand, it’s discouraging to work in a city if you suspect that local artists are undervalued simply because they are local.  This line of reasoning implies that anybody really good would have left. What a self-destructive attitude.

No question, the St. Louis theaters that can employ performers who live elsewhere employ St. Louis actors, too - maybe not in the numbers that St. Louis actors would like, but that’s true everywhere except, probably, New York. 

On a brighter note, all three winners for outstanding actor or actress in a supporting role do live here. Christopher Hickey won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical for “Smoke on the Mountain” at Mustard Seed. John Pierson won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play for “The Late Henry Moss” at St. Louis Actors’ Studio. Colleen Backer took both Outstanding Supporting Actress awards for her performances in “Smoke on the Mountain” and in the comedy “Morning’s at Seven” at Stray Dog.

Only in its fourth year, the Kevin Kline award doesn’t have enough history to figure out what this means (if anything.) The last two years were similar, but the first time the awards were presented, in 2006, four St. Louis actors won for leading roles: Michelle Hand and Nancy Lewis (in a tie), Zoe Vonder Haar, and Ben Nordstrom. (Nat DeWolf, not local, won the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play.)

So next year could be a completely different story. Or maybe this year’s breakdown gives St. Louis actors a higher standard to aim for. Or maybe somebody will cast Colleen Backer in a lead.