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  • full play

    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
    Winner: 2014 BroadwayWorld Orlando Awards, Best Lead Actress - Desiree Perez

  • 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.
  • 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.

  • IF I HAD MY WAY (excerpt)

    The illogical logic of relationships and the threat of war in a small Florida citrus town in 1945

With 36 productions and readings of his plays from coast to coast and in three countries since 2001, playwright, freelance writer, jazz advocate 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."

    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. 36 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, currently for Orlando Magazine. 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. Chair of Alternative Programming, Timucua Arts Foundation.