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  • FULL PERFORMANCE

    JAZZ SPOKEN HERE

    "TAKE away the DAZE and get yourself some HAYES!" ~ David Amram, the inventor, with Jack Kerouac, of jazz poetry readings.
  • STAGED READING

    IF I HAD MY WAY

    Laughter, tears, music, pride and fear; strong women and willful men; longing and unrequited desires; family and home; the past, the future and the magic of citrus blossoms.
  • full play on video

    DELIVERANCE

    It is a city in the time of social isolation, and life is different now that food arrives at your door.
  • full play

    A SLOW RIDE

    Three generations of women taking a Sunday ride, with the near-demented discord of family in close proximity for more than ten minutes.
  • concert version

    BUCKET BOY

    A storyteller returns to her home town to recapture a relationship with the girl she loved in high school ... a relationship that may or may not have ever existed.
    watch the song videos
  • full play

    SOLOS

    The Jazz Romance of trumpeter Ben "Blue" Miller and Ellie Grace. A story as passionate as the music.
    Winner: 2014 BroadwayWorld Orlando Awards, Best Lead Actress, Desiree Perez. Nominee: Best Director, Paul Castaneda
  • full play

    A LITTLE CRAZY

    The first production, performed at the 2002 Orlando International Fringe Festival.
  • full play

    WEST FARMS

    A worn-down man looks back at his childhood, his family, and the almost legendary bar in the Bronx that still keeps its hold on him.
  • reading

    DESTINATION MOON (excerpt)

    "When my mother turned 40 ..." from the play Destination Moon. Joseph Hayes with Alejandro Arenas, Mark Feinman and John O'Leary,
  • reading

    ALL ABOUT THE SOUND

    Joseph Reed Hayes reading at the Timucua White House, March 2015. Collaboration with Alejandro Arenas, Mark Feinman, John O'Leary, Whitney James and LaRue Nickelson.
  • reading

    IF I HAD MY WAY

    Reading with Joseph Hayes and the cast of If I Had My Way.

With 49 productions and readings of his plays from coast to coast and in three countries since 2001, playwright, freelance writer, event producer and performance artist Joseph Hayes pioneers the cause of local, sustainable art.

"A play by Joseph Reed Hayes is a welcome oasis of cultured smarts at the Fringe."
■ Orlando Weekly

CONTACT ME

freelance writer

As a writer on assignment, I've traveled to Italy, Scotland, England, New Orleans, California and New York City, with a specialty on all things Orlando. Whether it's a story about Arts & Crafts houses in Florida or new styles in computers, a Mounted Police squad or alien abduction insurance, I've written it. Environmental issues, music, movie and theater reviews and in-depth conversations with legends in jazz. Interviews and personality profiles are my specialty.

playwright

My plays take place on buses and in bars, in hotel rooms and government offices, farmhouse kitchens and jazz stages. 49 productions and readings of my plays from coast to coast and in three countries since 2001; creator of House Theater Project and the year-long 13in13 series of shows. "Best local playwright: Joseph Hayes" - Orlando Sentinel

food writer

Florida Magazine Association Award winning food writer and Orlando restaurant critic. James Beard Foundation judge, knowledgable champion of world cuisine and avid advocate of undiscovered chefs. I can write about the front of the house of a restaurant as well as the kitchen with equal expertise. Founding member, goFLA/SunshinePlate Central Florida.

jazz producer

Producer of the Jazz On Edge series, spotlighting new and original jazz from Central Florida since 2008, showcasing the best that Central Florida has to offer in jazz to appreciative audiences, giving creative hometown and nationally-known musicians a place to perform their own music, without boundaries, in person and online. Founder Word Play series, former Chair of Alternative Programming, Timucua Arts Foundation.