The Madrid Theatre Throws Its 100th Birthday Party This Fall. So Why Does the City Say 2027?

The theatre at 21622 Sherman Way that celebrates its centennial this fall was built in 1997, according to a City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering report from last December. The 1926 movie house that gives the anniversary its date was torn down after the Northridge earthquake. The centennial belongs to a corner and a name, and the building on that corner still has a punch list.

That explains the odd timing. The Department of Cultural Affairs is planning a "100th Anniversary Grand Re-Opening Celebration" for late this fall. Its own Madrid Theatre page says the City expects to open the doors to the public in 2027. The celebration and the reopening are two separate events, and the work still going on inside the building is what separates them.

A centennial for a corner, counted in names

DCA lays out the site's history on its venue page. The short version is a building that kept changing its name, then lost its original structure entirely.

The Master Chorale's August 2022 show comes from Daily News coverage at the time. Construction formally started a few months later, when the Bureau of Engineering issued the notice to proceed on Nov. 14, 2022. So 2026 is both the centennial of the 1926 house and the fourth year of the theatre's renovation.

Why the party arrives before the season

The renovation was split into two phases, and only the first one is finished. Phase I covered the front facade, the lobbies, the theatre and the backstage spaces. The City issued its statement of completion on March 7, 2025, and the final cost was $13,215,865.

Phase II exists because of money. The December 2025 report says Phase II began as a way to handle the value engineering the project needed before it could be awarded. To close the gap, the audio-visual and IT work was pulled out of the Phase I contract. The conduit for that equipment went in during Phase I, but the equipment itself moved to the second phase. Then crews found water leaking through the building's exposed concrete block walls, so waterproofing the whole building envelope was added as well.

The Phase II list reads like the parts of a theatre an audience never sees but every show relies on:

• A/V and theatrical equipment
• Replacing the gas HVAC units and the roof membrane, which the report ties to decarbonizing the facility
• Electrical work for the HVAC and the acoustic drapery
• Interior auditorium painting, including catwalks, handrails and balcony soffits
• Access control and front- and back-of-house communication rooms

The report puts Phase II costs at $4,783,330 and expected the work to wrap up by December 2026. That date matches the fall celebration window. A building whose sound, lighting and climate systems are finishing up in December is not ready for a regular season in December, so the public calendar starts in 2027.

The budget has grown too. In 2022 the Daily News described the project as an $8 million renovation and expected a reopening around the 2024–25 season. In April 2024, the Canoga Park Neighborhood Council pointed to the end of 2025. The December 2025 City report lists total project funding of $19,310,017.40. The earlier figure described money secured at one stage, and the newer one covers both phases, so the two numbers measure different things. Both say the same thing about the schedule, though. Every target date so far has slipped, and 2027 is the current one.

What four years buys inside a 290-seat room

DCA lists the theatre at 290 seats, with a 40-by-30-foot proscenium stage and an orchestra pit. The 1926 house held 600, so today's room is roughly half that size. The redesign is by Gensler and has a mid-century-modern look. According to DCA, regular visitors will notice these changes:

1. New audio and LED lighting systems
2. A custom curtain designed by artist Wendell Wiggins
3. New seating
4. Restrooms moved to the first floor
5. A digital marquee and digital posters
6. A fully redesigned second-floor lobby called the De Boer Lounge

The first two items on that list are Phase II work. That's why the room people see this fall may look finished while the systems behind it are still being commissioned.

When public programming starts, DCA says the theatre will go back to live dance, music and theater, along with conferences, speaking events, private events, film shoots and film festivals. The booking packet and rental application are already posted on the venue page for local groups planning ahead.

The celebration, as currently listed

The only specific date published so far comes from the San Fernando Valley Master Chorale. It lists the Grand Re-Opening for Thursday, Nov. 19, 2026, from 6 to 10:30 p.m., and calls it "A FREE EVENT BY THE DCA." The Chorale sang at the theatre's closing ceremony and has been asked "to return home" to open and close the show. Its page also mentions a livestream for anyone who can't attend in person. It gives the address as 22103 Vanowen St., but the City lists the theatre at 21622 Sherman Way.

DCA's own pages still show the date as "TBD" for late November or early December, and DCA's call for a photographer and videographer describes a 5 to 9:30 p.m. event. Before you plan your evening, check the DCA venue page or the theatre's Instagram.

DCA's calls for artists show how the night is planned. Its call for performing arts organizations asks for six family-friendly pieces covering dance, music, theater and culture. Its call for live musicians seeks a three- to five-piece lobby band with ties to the theatre's history, to play one reception set at 5:15 p.m. and another at 8:30 p.m. The photographer call lists a ribbon cutting, remarks, a toast and a YouTube livestream on the program. The same call describes the night as "a community celebration to honor the theatre's history."

The block that isn't waiting for 2027

The theatre has been closed for four years, but the businesses around it have stayed open. If the celebration does fall on a Thursday evening, the posted hours of the nearby spots matter, because the coffee places close in the afternoon.

Jesse's Grind is a few doors from the theatre and posts its hours on its own site. TRIO opened its Sherman Way location after a 2025 announcement. They're the morning and lunch options on this block. On a Thursday night, Grandi Italiani and the Follow Your Heart café are the two places on the list still open for a meal before or around a 6 p.m. start.

Old Town tried a seasonal event of its own last year. On Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, merchants held the first Holiday Stroll N' Shop on Sherman Way. The Daily News covered it, including Vita White of Main Street Vintage handing out candy canes. The Neighborhood Council's recap says the stroll ran from noon to 4 p.m. It was organized with Main Street Canoga Park, and participants included Artfully Made, Aardvark Vintage, Grandi Italiani, Retro Relics Etcetera and the Main Street Vintage Mall. No 2026 date has been posted yet. If there's a second stroll, it will likely land in the same weeks as the theatre's celebration, which would give Old Town two December-season events in a row.

I've watched the Madrid's reopening schedule slip from season to season, and I'll be following the Nov. 19 date as DCA firms it up. If you're thinking about how a reopened theatre and a busier Sherman Way could affect your own plans in Canoga Park, Nancy Cassidy is glad to talk it through. Let's Connect — Schedule a Consultation.