Payton McCarthy

Payton McCarthy is a Nashville based actor, director and theatre critic who has been studying and practicing the theatrical art form for the past 17 years. Payton is a former student of Western Michigan University’s BFA Musical Theatre program, where he studied acting, dance, vocal performance, script and theatrical analysis, and maintained an emphasis in direction from the very best professional artists and educators in the field. In 2017, Payton served as the assistant director to the collegiate premiere production of the John Dempsey and Dana P. Rowe musical comedy, Witches of Eastwick with which he worked personally with the show’s musical creator. In 2012, Payton won the Laura Lee Salmon Memorial Award for his role as Toby in MLT’s production of Sweeney Todd. Awarded as a First Night Most Promising Actors in 2016, and the recipient of the Emilee Jordan Memorial Award in 2015, Payton continues to pursue his art on Middle Tennessee stages through direction and performance. Payton is slated to direct MLT’s upcoming production of Kander and Ebb’s CABARET opening in February of 2019.