Playlist profile: Angela Timberman

Angela Timberman is currently burning things up on the Jungle Theater’s stage in Lisa D’Amour’s critically acclaimed play Detroit. She’s been seen at the Guthrie, Ordway, History Theatre, Children’s Theatre and has been a favorite at Chanhassen. In a career that has spanned genres and forms, Timberman currently finds herself in a production that both demands and gives a lot to her. She tells me it’s one for the books. We met in a coffee shop by Lake Nokomis near her south Minneapolis home and talked through what it means to be a woman who is aging and growing in the theater. She was as engaging and charming across the table as she is onstage. So when she wondered if we could do an on-the-spot selfie instead of the traditional headshot for the article, I found it impossible to say no. How’s the show going? Great! I think it’s the most ensemble thing I’ve ever done. It has to be. I think that’s why it’s working so well. Plus the play is really sideways and weird and fun and surprising. I couldn’t ask to be working with better people, they’re great. It’s great. Who are some of your favorite actors, national or local? I love Maureen Stapleton and Elaine Stritch and Carol Burnett. They’re all funny women but they’re also women that always seemed really vulnerable to me and really strong. With comedy can come a certain broken-ness. And because they weren’t conventionally pretty, I could relate to them, because I don’t feel conventional looking. I think I’m odd looking, I’ve always had to find my niche. Oh, and Anna Magnani. In town… Well I’m having a fun time working with Miss Anna Sundberg, I think she’s terrific – she’s an old soul. What are some of your favorite productions or performances you’ve seen? I love it when I see actors up there having fun with each other and the audience. I love that. I like it when it’s not too measured, when it’s a little bit messy. And when it’s organic and a little bit different every night. Not where it’s dangerous, like, you said you’d be standing by this table but now you’re standing in the audience, not crazy things like that. So, Brief Encounter and Tristan and Yseult (both by Kneehigh and presented at the Guthrie). And I loved Joel (Sass)’s 39 Steps. I thought that was so much fun. I just love things that are playful and fun or when it’s dangerous and I don’t know what’s going to happen. What does your dream career look like? I just want to make a living doing what I like to do. I want to be able to send my kids to college. I would love to do guerilla theater, and I probably will, but I have to be very careful about what I choose, because my husband (Jay Albright) is also an actor, and I have a mortgage, and I have two kids. So when I do get a chance to do something like Detroit and have a decent salary, I feel very, very blessed and grateful. What’s the best advice you ever got? It’s okay to suck. It’s okay not to be perfect, and in fact a lot of great things come out of that, giving yourself permission to do that. If you could change one thing about the professional world what would it be? ( Long pause) There’s so many things. And I’m a working actress, so I’m blessed. But that’s another thing, I still have to jump through hoops. You know people say, “You work all the time, Angie,” and I think, well I work hard. I work hard to work hard. And I’m not saying that some people who don’t get work don’t work hard, but it is a brutal business. So, anyway, the one thing I would change. There’s still sexism, a lot of sexism. What are some dream roles/plays/projects for you? I don’t know. I just like to play interesting and flawed characters. What’s your first memory of seeing a live performance? I was at a family reunion and someone got up and sang a song, it was my uncle. I can’t even remember what the song was, I bet I was 4 years old. He got up and sang a song to us children and I remember sitting there, looking at him and thinking, not in my four year old brain, but now looking back, being fascinated with how animated he was, how he used his hands and his face. And how he took the time to bring us kids around him to sing it while my Aunt Myrna played the piano. It was just really powerful. And church. I was very much involved in singing in church. That was a big influence on me, the singing especially. I just loved watching someone perform and having my heart broken by it or being made to laugh or think or being surprised. I just love that feeling. And when I can do it for someone else, when I can do it for an audience I feel powerful, it makes me feel great! How did you start as a performer? My mother entered me in a contest. The Brazil Professional Business Women (I’m from Brazil, Indiana) had a fundraiser and they had a Snow Prince and Princess Pageant. And there was a talent contest. I twirled baton and sang. That was my first experience onstage. It was terrifying. Even though I was an extrovert, and my mom knew it, it really was terrifying. And I won, I was Snow Princess. When did you decide to make it your profession? We had a Career Day in school, in fourth grade, where everyone wrote down what they wanted to be when they grew up. Most of the girls in my class put “teacher.” In fact a lot of my friends from school did go on to become teachers and they’re gods in my eyes. And I thought about that, I would have liked to become a teacher, but on my paper I put, “I want to be an actress.” That’s the first time I remember thinking that. And I remember going into the guidance counselor’s office in high school and saying, I want to be an actress, and her saying, you can’t do that! Maybe 1 in 2 million make it! I don’t think people understand that when someone says that, they’re not necessarily saying, “I want to be Meryl Streep.” Why do you act? I think it started out as, I want to be heard. But I’m into other artsy things too. I love to crochet, I love to paint. I just always have known that whether I’m good at it or not, I need to do something creative, I’m going to do something creative in my life. If I don’t I go crazy. When I’m not working as an actor, I have to have some little project going on. And I’m a little ADD about it. Self-diagnosed. I have a son with ADD so I’m pretty sure he gets it honestly. What keeps you going? That the next project is going to be as good as the one I’m working on right now. Because it is a love affair. It’s like falling in love when you’re doing a show like this. I can’t wait to get to the theater. What is a role/process/production you’re proud of? Well, I love what I’m doing now. I’m going to remember this. First of all because, I’m a middle aged woman with a great part, and that’s becoming fewer and farther between. And it’s a great piece and the people are great. I’m grateful that Joel trusted me to do it. Another one that I really had fun doing, which was complete entertainment, was Mid-Life! The Crisis Musical that I did with my husband. We had a blast. It was like sketch comedy with music and it was just fun! That was another one where we all liked each other in the cast, we were crazy, we could mix it up and do whatever we wanted with it. Racing backstage and changing our clothes for the next scene. It was a lot like the piece I’m doing now in terms of the energy onstage. You’ve got to bring it every night, you’ve got to get on that train and ride it to the end and there ain’t one moment for you to stop and think about what you’re doing. Those are the pieces I enjoy doing. What is a role/process/production that challenged you? It’s never easy to do a show when everybody isn’t onboard. That’s not fun. And we’ve all done that. I did a piece where the director and the playwright were not onboard about what my character was, so I was caught in the middle. The actor usually is, aren’t they? And they can tell me all they want and direct me all they want and I look to them for help, but in the end I’m the one who’s out there doing eight shows a week. I want a relationship with them, I want a relationship with my director. The same way I want a relationship with my husband, or the person that I’m in the scene with or my friends. That’s what it’s about for me, the chemistry in the room. It’s a delicate balance figuring that out.