Bootleg Theater was founded in 2006 as an arts space to create and produce experimental, independent live performance events in Los Angeles. In 2019, our last full year of operation in what was the Bootleg building, we produced over 400 live events. Our mission was to celebrate and showcase the best of Los Angeles-based theater, dance and music artists, many of whom went on to tour the country and the world. Theater/dance highlights: Ken Roht’s 99 Cent shows, Roger Guenveur Smith, Theater Movement Bazaar, Secret City with Christ Wells, Write Club, Rogue Artists Ensemble, Los Angeles Performance Practice, Circle X, L’Enfant Terrible, A Very Janky Christmas Spectacular, Ladies Arm Wrestling, Death of a Salesgirl, Blaktinx Dance Festival, Mardi Gras Extravaganzas, Melrose Poetry Bureau, A Fried Octopus, The Stand In.

        For full listings please see archives.

          We fostered careers for emerging musicians at the start of their careers including Big Thief, Sky Ferriera, Phoebe Bridgers, Lianne La Havas, and Moses Sumney.  We got to hang out with the likes of Prince and Stevie Wonder who came to support their protegees on stage. We had our own front-row seats to Garbage, Lianne La Havas, (1st U.S. show), Broken Bells (1st show), Jonathan Richman, Pussy Riot (first U.S. show), John Carpenter (first live show), Car Seat Headrest (first L.A. show). Literally to name a few. So many more. 

        We had a bar and a porch where everyone went to smoke, talk, fall in love. We had a wonderful time. And we were a vital cultural incubator. In 2021, we had to leave our home due to financial pressures from a business owner. Since then we have continued to produce the annual Blaktinx Dance Festival, which celebrates the work of Black and Latinx choreographers. And in October of 2025, we are opening a new venue, The Bootleg Dome, where we will be offering up some original, exciting live performance events and expanding to include art installations and exhibits. It’s in the desert, in Landers, CA. Stay tuned.