Payne initially trained as a musician, and studied music at Durham University.
[citation needed] She was offered a part in a musical, and within two years she received a Best Actress of the Year in a Musical Olivier Award nomination for creating the role of Lina Lamont in Singin' in the Rain (1983) at London's Palladium Theatre.
[4] Her major theatre credits also include such shows as The Rocky Horror Show (1979), Barnum (1981), Cricket (1986), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1987), Risky Kisses (1990), The Marriage of Figaro (1991), Showtune (1998, then titled The Best of Times), High Spirits (2001), and Follies (2006).
[6] Payne sings on the 1986 studio cast recording of the concept musical Josephine,[7] and on the 1992 London concert album of Nine.
[8] She sang Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at the Greenwich Theatre in 1990.