Angela Timberman, wrote critic Jaime Meyer in 2000, "accomplishes the difficult task of singing in a simultaneously gorgeous and annoying comic voice." In assessing Timberman's work in Chanhassen Dinner Theatre's production of "Oklahoma," Meyer captures her blend of comic instinct and virtuosity.

A brilliant sardonic actor with perfect comic timing, Timberman takes on meatier fare this week in "The Sisters Rosensweig" at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul. Wendy Wasserstein's 1996 play mines the role family plays in sculpting individual identity. Actors Charity Jones and Carolyn Pool complete the threesome, directed by Mary Finnerty.

"I know my strong suit is comedy," Timberman said over coffee near her south Minneapolis home. "But I think actors too often get pegged. Either you do serious work or you do musical theater. I hate that. When I did 'Third,' people said, 'Oh, my, you can act.' I could always act!"

This is Timberman's second date with Wasserstein this year. She played the best friend in "Third" at the Guthrie Theater last winter.

"Somebody should really explore what an incredibly thoughtful, fulsome dramatic actor she is," said Sally Wingert, who was Timberman's college-professor chum in "Third." "I had never seen her or worked with her, but she was so dead-on. She's so funny and sharp that it's easy to overlook that she's incredibly tender. She rhythmically understands a text."

Timberman moved to the Twin Cities in 1990 when her husband, actor Jay Albright, got the chance to play Chico and Harpo Marx in "Groucho" at Chanhassen. She joined him there the next year as Ado Annie in an earlier production of "Oklahoma" and has worked fairly consistently since. At Children's Theatre Company, she did "Strega Nona" in the 1990s and "The Magic Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle" in 2004 (showing an uncanny sense of audience awareness as well as creating a perfectly modulated character). Twice, she has been featured at the Ordway Center's McKnight Theatre, nearly stealing the show with two comic characterizations in 1998's "Ruthless" and as a crazed fan of Patsy Cline in "Always."

"She'll do anything," said Chanhassen artistic director Michael Brindisi. "Just off the top of my head, that's the first thing I think of with Angie. Even if you start out saying, 'This is a really stupid idea,' she's game for it."

Chanhassen has been a regular venue for both Timberman and Albright. In addition to two turns in "Oklahoma," she played the glassy-eyed Sister Mary Amnesia in "Nunsense," one of the over-the-hill midlifers in "Mid-Life, the Musical" and a maid who gets (along with Albright as the butler) the 11 o'clock number in "Easter Parade."

"She reminds me of a Carol Burnett," said Brindisi. "Carol had a great belt voice and of course the incredible comic timing. Angie has all those qualities, and she and Jay have this old-fashioned ethic. They come to work, no attitude."

Timberman has intense, dark eyes and raven hair -- sort of a 1950s look. That distinct appearance combined with her talents could keep her dance card filled year-round if she so desired. But she has consciously curbed her work to spend time with her sons, 9 and 6.

"When Jay and I are both working, it's a huge time commitment," she said. "I really want to be a good mom. Why have them if you're not going to take care of them?"

Respite from comedy

This is her first appearance at Park Square. She was in St. Paul last year at the History Theatre, doing her thing as a wisecracking sidekick in the premiere of "Hormel Girls."

Timberman said comedy, as effortless as it seems, can be a load. "Nunsense," for example, was hard physical work, as she hustled back and forth with song, dance, sight gags -- continually onstage. To get a serious role such as Gorgeous Teitelbaum in "The Sisters Rosensweig" is almost a vacation. Wasserstein, she said, writes good roles for women -- a treat for an actor willing to dig into the text.

As with "Third," Wasserstein wrestles with the question of identity in "Sisters."

"It comes from her being a woman, being Jewish and being the baby of the family," Timberman said.

Madeline Kahn played Gorgeous on Broadway. The character is described as "housewife, mother and radio personality," and the challenge, Timberman said, is to make an audience see themselves in her. Jones plays the older sister -- modeled on Wasserstein's older sibling -- and Pool is the youngster who is described as "a wandering Jew."

"It's very fun playing sisters," Timberman said. "You get to know the other actors more intimately. It's just so much closer."

As for her acting range, her striking looks and style, Timberman says she loves being a character actor rather than an ingenue.

"The longevity is great," she said. "My singing voice and my style have always been a blessing or a curse."

Graydon Royce • 612-673-7299