Crystal Manich is an Emmy Award nominated, versatile Latina international director whose works for stage and screen have been seen across the United States, Argentina, and Australia. She recently won Best First Time Female Filmmaker at the 2021 Toronto International Women Film Festival for her feature film The Copper Queen. She has also directed music videos for singer-songwriter Ivywild.
In Fall 2019, she directed the world premiere stage adaptation of Julia Alvarez’s Return to Sender by Marisela Orta for the Nashville Children’s Theatre about Mexican immigration and its complexities. It has been nominated for several Broadway World regional awards. She also directed the opera adaptation of the Spanish language opera Il Postino for Virginia Opera in a new production that will appear at several companies in the United States.
In January 2020 Crystal directed the musical Bernarda Alba, based on the Spanish play by Federico García Lorca, by Michael John LaChiusa for the Minneapolis company Theater Latté Da in a new production. Her spring season also includes a new Spanish adaptation of Cimarosa’s opera Il Matrimonio Segreto set in 1980’s Little Havana in Miami, as well as André Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire in Virginia.
Crystal was nominated for a 2021 Chicago/Midwest Regional Emmy Award for Daniel Catán’s Spanish Opera La Hija de Rappaccini. Crystal directed and co-produced this multi-cam production with Chicago Opera Theater and Valhalla Media live from the Field Museum in April 2021.
In June 2022, Crystal will direct the world premiere of the opera Southern Crossings in New York City.
Crystal’s feature film debut for the world premiere opera The Copper Queen was produced by Arizona Opera in collaboration with Manley Films. She also collaborates with singer-songwriter Ivywild and has directed music videos for Willing to Find Out and Longing for You.
Crystal was recently awarded a commission for the new musical play La Llorona now in development with Theater Latté Da. Read about it in American Theatre Magazine.
Stage Director /
The Cunning Little Vixen
March 2017 (debut)