Mike Payette - (actra, caea)

Mike Payette has been working professionally since a very young age, having worked with both independent and established companies all over the city. He made his debut as a member of the Children's Chorus in Andrew Lloyd Weber's Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. He then began auditioning for film and television, made headway as a budding theatre practitioner, all the while studying at both Saidye Bronfman Centre's Youth Institute and Dynamic Theatre Factory.

It was at the Saidye where he became the youngest artist (16) to receive support to develop, direct, and produce his first script entitled Maybe That's Where She Belongs in conjunction with the Youth Institute. The play was given a limited run on their main stage. Mike was subsequently invited to present two more original plays in the following seasons.

By the time he reached CEGEP, he was already a member of CAEA and had appeared in Ed Solomon's Levity starring Billy Bob Thorton and Holly Hunter. In 2005, he co-founded Tableau D'’Hôte Theatre, an independent company with the mission to promote and produce Canadian works by both emerging and established playwrights that have never or rarely been presented on a Montreal stage. His work as an actor, director, and artistic director garnered him a MECCA in 2006 for Revelation Artist of the Year, all this while studying at Concordia in Theatre and Development (keep this). Since, he has appeared as an actor in many productions, including stages across Canada, and has directed for several companies including Black Theatre Workshop where he is notably the youngest director in their 40 year history.

His company has gone on to produce over twenty Canadian works, including the Montreal premiere of A Line in the Sand for which he received a MECCA nomination for Best Director, with awards given to Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Set for the same production. Mike is a member of the Council Policy Advisory Group for Canadian Actors' Equity Association; he teaches acting as a private coach, as well as for ASM Performing Arts, Concordia University, and YouthWorks. He is driven by the power of the arts, a passion and a power that remind him every day that the limits of one's dreams are only as high as one makes them.