Krystal Ortiz (any pronouns) is a Cuban-American playwright and performer based in both Chicago and NYC.

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Krystal's full-length, bilingual, historical Cuban punk-rock jukebox musical, frikiNation, will receive a workshop production directed by Rula A. Muñoz as part of National Queer Theater's Criminal Queerness Festival in June 2025. Krystal is also co-producing a documentary about the history of the frikis cubanos with director Carlos Lopez Estrada. Krystal is a playwright-in-residence with the Goodman Theatre's 2024-2025 New Stages Residency (in collaboration with Satya Jnani Chavez) to develop their new musical commission, (Fruit)ion. In August 2025, there will be a free public staged reading of the first draft at the Goodman Theater.

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Krystal was featured as a voice to watch in a WBEZ article about millenials taking over the voice of Chicago theater.

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As an actor, Krystal was nominated for a Colorado Theatre Guild Henry Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2023, and a Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Performer in a Supporting Role in 2020. They were featured as one of Chicago Tribune's 2019 Hot New Faces​ of Chicago Theater and nominated for a 3Arts Award in Theater in 2021.

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Originally from Miami, FL, Krystal attended New World School of the Arts High School for Music Theatre before moving to Chicago to earn a BFA in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University.​

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Krystal is proudly represented by Stewart Talent Chicago, and is currently unrepresented as a playwright.

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