Offscript - Hey good lookin’

Last time in Off Script, I hoped to fire up some interest in local performers when I called for votes for Atlanta’s Most Handsome Actor and Most Beautiful Actress. I never expected the response to be quite so ... excited.

Readers e-mailed nominations for 32 babes and 33 studs, and some voters seemed extremely hot and bothered. Like kids in an eye-candy store, they couldn’t pick just one looker per category, and one participant wrote detailed rhapsodies on the charms of six actors, five actresses, one director and one playwright. A few cooler heads made the distinction between external good looks and choices with “inner” beauty.

Some voters took the informal, lighthearted exercise more seriously than I imagined. One called me a brave man for taking on the challenge, then proceeded to nominate herself and praise her “genetically gifted gene pool.” (And she wasn’t the only self-voter.) One fan tried to vote for the same actress three times, each from a different e-mail account, but without changing his screen name. Votes came from the parents of an Atlanta performer and even out of state.

Clearly there was some backstage campaigning among friends. Had the vote been open any longer, I’m sure I would’ve seen spam e-mails patterned after those “For Your Consideration” ads that movie studios use to drum up Academy Award votes. At first, I thought such efforts violated the democratic spirit of the exercise, but then I recalled how the inspiration for the vote came from the local media’s tendency to ignore Atlanta actors. The beauty contest was conceived as a way to treat them as “real” celebrities. So what could be a more authentic expression of pop celebrity than behind-the-scenes politicking for what is, at heart, a superficial honor? Besides, there’s one thing you can always say about attractive people: They’re good at getting others to do what they want.

Onto the winners and finalists. For Most Handsome Actor, voters picked Daniel May, a previous winner of Creative Loafing’s “Best of Atlanta” readers’ and critic’s pick for Best Actor. He can be seen currently as the lead in Actor’s Express’ Echoes of Another Man through Feb. 12. First runner-up is Theroun Patterson, currently in Day of the Kings on the Alliance Hertz Stage, followed by Daniel Pettrow as second runner-up. He’s currently in Skinwalkers at 7 Stages.

For Most Beautiful Actress, voters picked Rachel Sorsa, who recently played Eve in Searching for Eden at Georgia Ensemble Theatre and will appear in Bad Mama at Process Theatre beginning Feb. 25. First runner-up is Betty Hart, who starred in Theatrical Outfit’s Beehive last summer, followed by Kristie Krabe, who played the title role in Dad’s Garage Theatre’s Debbie Does Dallas.

Among voters’ more memorable comments:

“Studliest Actor is a tie between the Daniels Pettrow and May. Pettrow, with his jaguar physique and darkly romantic looks, leaps catlike into every role with energy, conviction, versatility and a fearless confrontation that makes the ladies swoon. May’s hawklike brows, piercing green eyes and triangular back are more like an eagle who attacks his roles with a fierceness that captures the femmes’ hearts.”“Rachel Sorsa. Jesus. Damn. The buxom, blond former Victoria’s Secret model with freakishly flawless features and X-rated body who can sing, dance, make you laugh or cry at will, do a fabulous Joan Crawford, and make everyone in the audience want to buy her a house just for ... being.” “Theroun Patterson played a male prostitute in Relations Unknown. One can assume that character was quite successful in his chosen profession.”“Carolyn Cook: No matter who she is on stage, she still warms my toes.”“David Silverman, because who else in town could pull off playing a pedophile [in the Alliance’s reading of Love, Jerry] and still be a total hottie?”“Barbara Cole can give Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchett a run for their money any time!”Finally, a stage manager remarked, “You should have one for backstage/administrative staff folk, too. Us backstage ops never get enough credit.”

Maybe next year.

Turnout at the boothThe new AtlanTIX half-price ticket booth at Lenox Square, which opened Feb. 3, may not be as striking as the players mentioned above, but it’s certainly lovely in its own way. The Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts’ AtlanTIX service provides half-price, same-day tickets to Atlanta shows, as well as cultural attractions like Zoo Atlanta. The original AtlanTIX booth at Underground Atlanta has sold 72,500 half-price admissions since opening in October 1998, and the new installation, at Lenox Square’s Simon Guest Services Booth, should attract even more traffic.