Sierra Madre Playhouse
We enrich our communities through producing extraordinary live performances at accessible prices and preserve our historic theater for future generations.
VISION STATEMENT
To be a regionally recognized center of excellence for the performing arts.
BACKGROUND
The Sierra Madre Playhouse is an intimate 99-seat theater in Sierra Madre. Sierra Madre is an independent municipality in Los Angeles County.
The Playhouse has been a center of entertainment and culture for a century. After opening as a movie theater in 1924, it became a community theater in the 1970s and a professional theater in the early 2010s. It became a performing arts center in 2023. It is on the City’s register of Historic Landmarks. The Sierra Madre Playhouse is registered with the IRS as a non-profit organization. It has a board of 10 trustees.
The onset of COVID-19 and the introduction of Californian labor legislation, which doubled production costs and increased deficits, necessitated a fundamental review of the Playhouse’s business model in the early 2020s. In 2023 the board, having experimented with solo shows, readings and silent movies, made the decision to transform the Playhouse into a performing arts center. In August 2023, the Board recruited Matt Cook, an experienced executive director in the arts, to become both executive and artistic director to plan and implement the new strategy.
Our strategy creates a virtuous circle: producing high-quality performances attracts larger audiences, increasing revenue while maintaining cost efficiency. These resources enable partnerships with mission-aligned funders, strengthening staff capacity and organizational growth. Through strategic growth and community-centered initiatives, Sierra Madre Playhouse is poised to elevate its impact, bringing world-class performances to the heart of Sierra Madre for years to come.
