Once a prima ballerina in England, Jayne Regan Pink now sprinkles 'fairy dust' on Milwaukee theater

For more than a decade Jayne Regan Pink was a leading ballerina in England, the figure on stage that everyone was looking at.

Now she can often be found in the back of Milwaukee rehearsal rooms, coaching actors on how to move and, surprisingly, sometimes on how to talk, and in one instance even what to sing.

Regan Pink said she's "much happier" today not being the star. Instead, she enjoys contributing her personal wattage to productions by Milwaukee Repertory Theater and Renaissance Theaterworks, the women-led company she joined last year as artistic associate.

In the coming months, local audiences will experience the results of her work in Renaissance's dark comedy "Witch," for which she is coaching movement, and in Milwaukee Rep's "A Christmas Carol," for which she will once again work with actors on their accents.

Her unusual career here is a reminder that a raft of people not labeled "director" or "actor" affect the quality of what audiences see on local stages.

A Cockney in Milwaukee

In the momentous year of 1998, her mentor Christopher Gable died, she stepped down as a principal dancer with England's Northern Ballet Theatre, and she married her Northern colleague, choreographer Michael Pink.

Regan Pink said she had no plan or vision for what she would do after she stopped dancing onstage. As a dancer she was simply too busy to think about anything else.

But in 2002, when Michael Pink was hired as artistic director of Milwaukee Ballet, she found herself in a city she knew nothing about, except that it was "near Chicago" and had a "European" feeling. Regan Pink had a toddler, an infant and no driver's license.

On the snowy December day they arrived, the ballet company manager shrewdly drove them over the Hoan Bridge, so her first view of Milwaukee was an impressive one.

During her early years here she was basically Mrs. Pink, the mother of Max and Georgina. But as time went on, she began helping a bit at Milwaukee Ballet.

While Michael was in a studio staging massive scenes, Regan Pink would walk around the back of the room, unofficially helping a performer add layers to a character. "I might say to the rich widow, 'Have you ever thought there might be poison in your room?' Or you see that cadet over there? You're rather sweet on him.'"

She calls these hints and her approach "sprinkling the fairy dust."

Then Regan Pink became involved with Milwaukee Repertory Theater when former artistic director Joseph Hanreddy asked her to help coach actors on speaking with English accents in Alan Ayckbourn's comedy "The Norman Conquests." As someone who counts Ayckbourn as a friend, she was delighted. Then she worked at the Rep with guest director Jon Jory on accents in "Happy Now?" by London playwright Lucinda Coxon.

Regan Pink has served for several seasons now as dialect coach for current Rep artistic director Mark Clements' adaptation of "A Christmas Carol." But she modestly does not refer to herself as a dialect coach, preferring to reserve that title for trained instructors she respects, such as Jill Walmsley Zager. "I've just got a very good ear," Regan Pink said.

She said her personal accent would be described as southern English. Having been born in London's Newham borough, she grew up within earshot of Bow Bells (The Church of St Mary-le-Bow). "That makes me officially Cockney," she said, dropping humorously for a moment into a stereotypical Cockney accent. However, her aspirational Welsh parents sent her to a fairly posh private school, then she attended Royal Ballet School, all that leading to a more middle-class accent. Though impishly she added, "When I'm swearing it's totally different."

For Rep's "Christmas Carol," where few characters other than Scrooge have extended speeches, Regan Pink sifts most characters into one of three speech groups to signify their social class: the world of businessman Scrooge, the world of Bob Cratchit and his family, and the world of Mrs. Dilber, the housekeeper who consorts with fences. But when Regan Pink saw Todd Denning in his expansive costume and wig as the Ghost of Christmas Present, she thought immediately of the boisterous Scottish comic actor Billy Connolly. So Denning's Ghost got a Glaswegian accent.

As fun as accents are, it's important that audience members be able to hear and understand every word, Regan Pink said, respecting that "people work so hard to write wonderful plays."

How Jayne Regan Pink became a Renaissance woman

Regan Pink's children became involved in performing arts when they were young, so she spent many hours chauffeuring them to First Stage and hanging around. She and her husband co-choreographed First Stage's "Matilda," possibly the most complex musical the family theater company has ever staged. She also choreographed the younger kid show "Elephant & Piggie's 'We are in a Play!'"

When the younger Pinks became involved in Shorewood High School theater, so did their mom, who was tapped to help with accents for "Sweeney Todd" and "The Secret Garden." "Kind of the resident Brit," she quipped.

When teenage Max Pink was cast in Renaissance Theaterworks' "Russian Transport" (2018), a stellar drama about human trafficking, Regan Pink was intrigued and attracted by the welcoming vibe of this company led by women. She joined the Renaissance board of directors in 2019.

One of Regan Pink's other talents is cultivation, said Renaissance managing director Lisa Rasmussen. As a dancer at first and then as a spouse of an artistic director, Regan Pink has been "building relationships and schmoozing people for decades," Rasmussen said.

As they got to know Regan Pink, the Renaissance leadership enjoyed the "constellation" of talents she brought, Rasmussen said. During a conversation with Renaissance artistic director Suzan Fete, Regan Pink expressed a desire for a creative outlet of her own, leading to her artistic associate position there. "It's been a beautiful partnership," Rasmussen said.

Regan Pink consulted on "movement" for Renaissance's "Happy Days," where actor Laura Gordon was nearly immobile for most of the play. As a Pilates teacher (another of her skills) who understands the human body, she helped Gordon and director Marie Kohler find ways to reduce pressure on Gordon's spine as she performed the demanding role.

What might be more surprising is how deeply this former dancer has become involved in the literary end of what Renaissance does. She leads the play selection advisory committee, a cluster of board and community members who offer advice to Fete on play selection. Regan Pink also writes Renaissance's audience guides and accessibility guides.

Even going back to her ballet years, the basis of performance for Regan Pink is "always literature," she said. As a girl she had dictionaries by the side of her bed. Today if she hears a new word in rehearsal she writes it down so she can look it up and read about its Latin roots. "It probably drives people mad," she said.

In a dance studio, "everybody kind of helps everybody out a little bit" when it comes to creative input, Regan Pink said. When she started working in theater, she saw more of an "everybody has their lane" approach. But Milwaukee may be learning that this Renaissance woman has more than one lane.

When music director Dan Kazemi was fashioning songs for Milwaukee Rep's grunge-flavored adaptation of "Much Ado About Nothing," he was coming up blank in his search for a period text for the caustic Beatrice to sing.

During rehearsals for "A Christmas Carol," he mentioned this to Regan Pink, who urged him to look at female French poets of the era. That's where he found Renaissance poet Louise Labé's "I live, I die, I burn, I drown," which Kazemi turned into the song "Joyful/Sad."

If you go

Renaissance Theaterworks performs "Witch" Oct. 20-Nov. 12 at 255 S. Water St. For tickets, visit r-t-w.com or call (414) 278-0765.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Jayne Regan Pink brings movement, dialect skills to Milwaukee theater