Christian De Gré Cárdenas

Composer/Playwright/Artistic Director

“De Gre’s macabre songs are impressible sombre and earnestly spirited” –NY Theater Now

“Evokes Burton’s “Nightmare”, a creepy-carnival vibe. Simply put it’s twisted and wonderful.” –Time Out New York

“De Gré’s operettas (similar in style to Sondheim) are the perfect answer to the accusation that there is no new musical theater of quality being made.” –OffTheBeatenTrackTheater

“When something different arrives, you take note. De Gré’s music is just that. Different, proud and exciting to hear.” –Theater in the Now

Mexican artist Christian De Gré Cárdenas has overseen the opening of over 1,000 new productions in New York City. He has featured works at The United Nations, The Public Theater, Feinstein’s/54 Below, HERE Arts, La Mama E.T.C., The Discovery Channel, The Drama Desk Awards and The Mexican Cultural Institute of New York. He is the co-creator of 30 original works including Fatty Fatty No Friends (Innovative Theater Award Nominations for Best Music and Best Musical, FringeNYC Excellence Award Winner, National Alliance of Musical Theater semi-finalist, NYMF Best of Fest, Time Out New York Critic's Pick) and Whiskey Pants: The Mayor of Williamsburg (FRIGID New York Excellence Award Winner, off-Broadway premiere at HERE.) He is an alumnus of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts and The Broadway League’s Commercial Theater Institute, is a member of the Advanced BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop, and is a Yaddo Colony & SPACE on Ryder fellow. He has served as Artistic Director of Mind The Art Entertainment (2007-2022), General Manager of The New York International Fringe Festival (2013-2018), Global Outreach Partner for Theater for Social Change with the United Nations (2007-2011), Director of The National Opera Center (2018-2022) & Chief Operating Officer of OPERA America (2020-2023). De Gré Cárdenas currently splits his time between New York City, where he serves as Executive Director of the world renowned Heartbeat Opera, and a small town near Mérida, Yucatan, where he is developing new works for opera, theater, cabaret, film & television while quietly obsessing over the bugambilias in his garden.

Represented by UIA Talent Agency