MADRID THEATRE

Originally built in 1926 by N. Schelenberg and M.P. Horwitz as a silent motion picture house, the Madrid Theatre has had a vast and alluring history. At the time, Canoga Park was known as the town of Owensmouth, and the Madrid Theatre was a 600-seat house with an extravagant organ from the Robert Morton Organ Factory of Van Nuys. It continued as a motion picture house, and in 1939/40 it became known as the Canoga Theatre.

By the mid-1960s, however, the theater had settled into a new direction, and a new name, the Park Theatre, focused on showing adult films. It later become part of the Pussycat Theatres chain and was known as the Park Pussycat Theatre until closing in 1994 due to the Northridge Earthquake. The City of Los Angeles acquired the property, demolished the old structure, and built the Madrid Theatre as we know it today. It reopened on December 12, 1998, as a live performance venue designed by FSY Architects and owned and operated by DCA.

Led by Gensler and TheatreDNA, the $8M renovation of the 430-seat facility will include an entirely new lobby, upgraded back of house support spaces, and a new performance audio system. The anticipated re-opening of the Madrid Theatre is in 2024.

TheatreDNA provide full theatre planning, theatre design, AV, and performance equipment design and specification services.