Joe Payne

Joe Payne Bio

Joe Payne is the head of sound and media design for the Department of Theatre at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, home of The Clarence Brown Theatre. Favorites at CBT include: sound, projections, and/or composed music for Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Hamlet, Candide, The Crucible, The 39 Steps, The Threepenny Opera, Monty Python’s Spamalot, A Christmas Carol, Sweeney Todd, and The Who’s Tommy. Joe has designed more than 250 productions in theatres throughout the country, including 21 seasons at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Riverside theatre (Vero Beach, FL), Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Round House Theatre and Imagination Stage (Bethesda, MD), Pioneer Theatre Company (SLC, UT), Indiana Repertory Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, The Virginia Stage Company, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Utah Opera and Symphony, The Fulton Opera House (Lancaster, PA), Syracuse Stage, and others. Joe is a member of TSDCA (Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association), was Commissioner of the USITT (United States Institute for Theatre Technology) Digital Media Commission from 2017-2022, and a member of United Scenic Artists, USA Local 829.


Press

Reviews rarely mention anything about sound, music, or media, but I do get a shout out once in a while.  
Here’s a page of virtually every mention in the last decade or so.


Resume/Vitae

  • Member of United Scenic Artists local 829, as a Sound Designer, since 2003.

Resident and/or Faculty Designs

University of Tennessee – Knoxville and The Clarence Brown Theatre, 2011-Present

  • Professor of Sound and Media Design, Department of Theatre.
  • 28 productions as Sound Designer, Composer and/or Projection Designer.

Utah Shakespeare Festival, 1999-Present

  • 67 productions as Sound Designer, Composer, and/or Projections Designer

Illinois State University 2010-2011

  • Assistant Professor of Sound and Projection Design, School of Theatre.
  • 3 productions as Sound Designer, Composer and/or Projection Designer.

Pioneer Theatre Company, 2000-2010

  • 70 productions as Resident Sound Designer, Composer, and/or Projection Designer.

The University of Utah 2000-2010

  • Adjunct Faculty in Sound Design, Department of Theatre.
  • 9 productions as Sound Designer and/or Composer.

Virginia Stage Company, 1996-1999

  • 19 productions as Resident Sound Designer.

Freelance Designs – Theatre Companies

  • Riveride Theatre, Vero Beach, FL – Almost Heaven; John Denver’s America
  • Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park – Lifespan of a Fact, Sooner/Later, Native Gardens, Ring of Fire, Pride and Prejudice
  • Marble City Opera, Knoxville, TN – Shadowlight
  • Pioneer Theatre Company, SLC, UT (as a guest) – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Prayer for the French Republic
  • Imagination Stage, Bethesda, MD – Charlotte’s Web, Cinderella
  • Berkeley Rep – Hand to God
  • Syracuse Stage – Deathtrap
  • Repertory Theatre of St. Louis – Ring of Fire, I am My Own Wife, Humble Boy
  • Round House Theatre, Bethesda, MD – Pride and Prejudice
  • Indiana Repertory Theatre – Ladies Man
  • Salt Lake Shakespeare – Measure for Measure, Henry V
  • Alabama Shakespeare Festival – Death of a Salesman, Count of Monte Cristo, Mary Poppins
  • The Neo-Futurist Theatre, Chicago, IL – Liza Minelli’s Daughter
  • The Fulton Opera House, Lancaster, PA – Having our Say
  • LoEx Music, WRENNE (London based pop singer) – ISaidYesToEverything
  • Milwaukee Repertory Theatre – Noises Off
  • Utah Symphony & Opera – How the Trumpet Got its Toot, A Little Night Music, H.M.S. Pinafore
  • The Egyptian Theatre Company, Park City, UT – I Love You Your Perfect Now Change, Macbeth, Village Fable
  • Utah Musical Theatre, Ogden, UT – Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, The Fantasticks, My Fair Lady