Hayden grew up in the Chicago suburb of Northbrook, Illinois, with his two big sisters, his mother who taught nursery school and his father who worked in industrial sales. From an early age, he loved music, singing in the children’s choir at church, studying piano and playing alto saxophone. In junior high, he had a brief flirtation with life as a math genius, when he was chosen to participate in a cutting edge math program for gifted students. He spent many long hours studying algebra, geometry and trigonometry. When he was cast as Tevye in the Maple Jr. High production of Fiddler on the Roof, however, something clicked. Alluring as mathematics can be, it was no match for the pull of the roaring crowd, not to mention all the pretty dancing girls.
At Glenbrook North High School, he acted in countless plays and musicals, including Guys and Dolls, J.B., Our Town, The Crucible, The Front Page, The Visit, Scapino, did sketch comedy, marched with the band, sang solos with the chorus, and graduated in the top of his class.
He attended the prestigious School of Music at Indiana University, studying classical voice and performing in: Camelot, La Boheme, Brahms’ Requiem, Legend of Tsar Sultan, Rigoletto,The Bartered Bride, Don Giovanni, Bach Cantatas, and solo recitals. After graduating magna cum laude, Hayden was accepted as an apprentice at the Burt Reynolds Jupiter Theatre in Florida, where he worked with Charles Nelson Reilly, Ossie Davis, and Burt himself, in Teahouse of the August Moon, I’m Not Rappaport, Mame, The King and I, The Unsinkable Molly Brown. When Hayden moved to New York, he studied with Uta Hagen and soon was working in theatres around the country and touring Europe in The Fantasticks, Cabaret, South Pacific, Oklahoma!, Carousel, West Side Story. He toured the US, Canada and Singapore as the romantic lead Marius in the mega hit Les Miserables.
With a thriving career in musical theatre, Hayden longed to be acting in the classics, so he returned for his M.F.A. at the Professional Theatre Training Program at the University of Delaware. There he played lead roles in Shakespeare, Ibsen, Shaw, Brecht, and Stoppard. Upon returning to New York, Hayden began working in classic plays in major theatres all around the country: Othello, Glass Menagerie, Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, Troilus and Cressida, Three Musketeers. Between acting engagements he wrote and developed his solo show The Wannabe Jew, which has played theatres in New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Delaware. He was also a contributing writer and supporting actor in the hit film Kissing Jessica Stein with Jennifer Westfeldt.
When Hayden moved to Los Angeles, he was cast on his first audition, in the sitcom Wednesday’s 9:30, with John Cleese. Hayden continues to work in Los Angeles, appearing in over 10 television shows, 8 films, and plays at the Pasadena Playhouse and the Independent Shakespeare Company. The Wannabe Jew is in preparation for future engagements and Hayden is writing a screenplay based on the play.
