Esteban Andres Cruz

2025 Bodies of Work

Theater

Esteban Andres Cruz (they/them/theirs) was born in Berwyn and raised in Cicero, IL and is a blind, queer, latiné, trans-nonbinary theater artist (actor, director, choreographer, composer, & playwright), teaching artist, and former dancer. Directorial debut: Jesus Hopped the A Train (Fall 2025). Esteban won the Jeff Award in 2008 for their performance in the same play. Esteban has acted at many theaters in Chicago and regionally. Off-Broadway: Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven (Drama Desk Award nomination for acting), the musical Cornelia Street, Bathhouse.pptx, and The Potluck at Lincoln Center, directed by Sarah Benson. Select Film: Spa Night (Cassavetti Best Feature), Valley of Bones, The Thin Line, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, and Rattled. TV: Chicago Fire, Awkward, Easy, Idiot Sitter, The Bridge, You're The Worst, and South Side. Esteban is an ensemble member with A Red Orchid Theatre in Chicago. They are a 2018 TCG National Fox Acting Fellow Award Winner and also received the After Dark Award for Best Choreography. Esteban has danced many ballets and is a “3rd generation Graham dancer”. Esteban is co-founder of VIVERO; a nursery for cultivation new voices and harvesting plays within the latiné diaspora, currently in residence at City Lit Theatre.

Esteban Andres Cruz's Website

Featured Artworks

In the forgeground; a young Latino w dark curly hair & facial hair, in an orange prison suit, arms outstretched and pleading. In the background he is surrounded by a projection of glistening red meat.

Jesus Hopped the A Train by Stephen Adly Guirgis at City Lit Theatre, Fall 2025 Photo credit: Steve Graue, Actor Lenin Izquierdo on set by Tianxuan Cheng, projections by Andres Friz, Costumes Jazmin Aurora Medina and Lighting by Josiah Coregaert Directorial Debut - Esteban Andres Cruz

A latina trans woman in a skirt makes a dramatic exit in an almost dance-like pose while the other women of the Hope House (halfway house/homeless shelter) look on, including Kara Young, Benja K Thomas and Pernell Walker.

Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven with Esteban as Venus Ramirez, 2020 Photo by Monique Carboni world premiere by Stephen Adly Guirgis and directed by John Ortiz Atlantic Theatre

A white man (Tom Irwin) in a dark business suit and beautiful Latina trans woman (Esteban) in a floral print purple, pink and green dress. She has long wavey brown hair. They sit at a bar with drinks and having a lively conversation.

DOMESTICATED by Bruce Norris at Steppenwolf, 2014 Photo: Michael Brosilow Esteban Acting debut at Steppenwolf

Esteban as the Jane Twisden the maid, in a traditional black French maid outfit (modest) with white skirt and bonnet. She has a mustashe and is gritting her teeth at someone out of frame.

The Mystery of Irma Vepp by Charles Ludlam, 2020 Photo: John Gitchoff St Louis Rep with Esteban in the Lord Edgar track

A Midsummer Night's Dream by Benjamin Britten (opera) Esteban as Puck, 2010 Photo credit: Dan Rest Lyric Opera of Chicago