Calla Henkel and Max Pitegoff, former artistic directors of Berlin's Grüner Salon, launched New Theater Hollywood in 2024 as a nonprofit venue on Santa Monica Boulevard. The 49-seat theater specializes in genre-defying, multidisciplinary collaborations, staging works like Sophie Becker's ventriloquist act *Ronnie's Big Idea* and Diamond Stingily's *The Driver*. Every performance sells out, attracting a cult following of literary, art world, and pop culture figures who often linger to discuss shows.
This matters because New Theater Hollywood represents a growing trend of visual artists expanding into live performance, challenging traditional theater conventions. By refusing to show their own work for three years, Henkel and Pitegoff prioritize collaborative experimentation over vanity projects, creating a space where artists from different disciplines can push their practices into new forms. The theater's success signals a shift in how art-world audiences engage with live performance in an increasingly screen-based culture.