About Us

Wes Payne, Producing Artistic Director for Daymark Productions, is a true “Renaissance Man” in the field of entertainment.  Trained as a singer and actor, Wes is an accomplished stage director, designer and technician.  Raised and educated in the Kansas City area where he received his first professional experience, Wes moved to Chicago in 1982.  There he worked with the Goodman Theatre and as managing director within the not-for-profit theatre community where he developed his talents as an administrator and fundraiser.  He still took time, however, to hone his artistic skills as a stage director and earned the acknowledgement of the city’s Joseph Jefferson Committee for three of his scenic designs.

 

In 1984, Wes partnered with artistic director Michael Leavitt to form the Payne Leavitt Group.  This organization grew into a major force on the Chicago theatre scene.  They purchased the Apollo Theatre Center and the Ivanhoe Theater, then two of Chicago’s premier commercial theatres, where Wes served as general manager and co-executive producer.  The Payne Leavitt Group also managed performance spaces in the Palmer House in the heart of Chicago’s Loop and the Westin Hotel near O’Hare Airport.  As a production entity the Payne Leavitt Group produced several shows at those four spaces, as well as in many other Chicago performance venues, featuring many well-known New York and Hollywood personalities.

 

        In 1991, Wes Payne and subsequent Broadway producer Michael Leavitt teamed up with New York’s James M. Nederlander, St. Louis’ Fox Associates and Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre to present a subscription series that offered PLG’s own productions of Lend Me a Tenor and Prelude to a Kiss, as well as productions of M. Butterfly and Grand Hotel at the Chicago Theatre and Les Miserable at the Auditorium Theatre.  Wes’ reputation as a successful producer of professional theatre led to his being featured in a cover story for Chicago’s North Shore Magazine in July of 1991. 

 

        Lured to New Orleans and the Delta Queen Steamboat Company by the challenge of redefining their entertainment product in 1991, Wes accepted the position of Vice President of Entertainment and Cruise Programs.  During his tenure with DQSC that ended in 2001, Wes collaborated in the writing and directing of shows for the DQSC’s three river vessels, their two American Hawaii vessels, the Columbia Queen and the Cape May Light.  He also served in the role of executive producer and headed a department that, at its height, numbered as many as one hundred managers, entertainers and support staff members.  Under Wes’ leadership the Delta Queen Steamboat Company’s entertainment product was rated #1 in the cruise industry by the readers of Condé Nast Traveler magazine on its annual “Gold List.”

 

        Since 2001, Wes has worked as a freelance writer, entertainment consultant and producer.  Seeking new opportunities for creativity and the excitement of new challenges, he established Daymark Productions.  In 2006 Wes welcomed Tom Hook to the organization as co-owner. 

 

       Tom Hook, Musical Director and Director of Operations for Daymark Productions, is an accomplished musician and songwriter. He began his career in Kansas City, Missouri, performing in local and regional jazz and rock bands, as well as working as a stage performer at Worlds of Fun theme park.  Leaving Kansas City in 1980, Tom began a long association with the Delta Queen Steamboat Company, working as a lounge entertainer on board the Mississippi Queen until 1985 when he assumed bandleader duties on the Delta Queen.

 

The year 1986 found Tom in Orlando, Florida working as a staff musician at Walt Disney World. While in Orlando, Tom also worked as a staff musician at Rosie O’Grady’s at Church Street Station, and with his own vintage rock band, The Terrier Brothers at the Orchid Garden. The Terrier Brothers assumed duties of relief house band at Lil’ Darlin’s Rock and Roll Palace in Kissimmee, Florida where they appeared with the rock and roll legends of the fifties and sixties such as Coasters, Drifters, Diamonds, Platters, Tokens, Contours, Shirelles, Marvelettes, Dixie Cups, Sam Moore, Lou Christy, Little Anthony, Gary “U.S.” Bonds, Peter Noone, Spencer Davis, Mama’s & Papas, and Marc Lindsey. During the same time period Tom had the pleasure of opening for Mitch Ryder, Blood, Sweat, & Tears, The Crickett’s, and Wilson Pickett, as well as recording a progressive rock project at Ian Anderson’s (Jethro Tull) studio in Barford-St, Michael, UK

 

            In 1987 Tom was a founding member of the Black Dog Jazz Band, an association that led him to appearances at most of the major traditional jazz festivals in the US, as well as tours of Western Europe and the Orient.   Returning to the stage in 1990, he portrayed Sam the Bartender at the Diamond Horseshoe in Disney World.  Two years later Tom accepted the position of music director at Main Street Station Casino in Las Vegas.

 

        Following another five-year stint at Delta Queen Steamboat Company during which he served as staff musician, bandleader and eventually cruise director on the American Queen, Tom returned to Disney World in 1999 as a staff musician.  He was also one of the opening entertainment staff at Pat O’Brien’s nightclub at Universal Studios City Walk.

 

        Later in 1999 Tom assumed the position of Manager of Entertainment for Delta Queen Steamboat Company, moving into the position of Music Director at Harrah’s Casino New Orleans in 2001. In 2002 Tom returned to Delta Queen as the Director of Entertainment, overseeing the entertainment programming for the entire company.

 

        Over the years Tom has performed on various local and national jingles for entities as diverse as the Kansas City Chiefs, Truly Nolen, Budweiser, McDonalds, H&R Block, Missouri State Lottery and Florida State Lottery. He has also toured with his own one-man stage production of the musical drama Riverman! A new challenge for Tom has him delving into the world of cyber entertainment, producing and recording period music for a series of war games developed by John Tiller for HPS Simulations.

 

For more information about Tom Hook, check out his website, http://TomHook.com.