The Mayan Theatre served Los Angeles for nearly 100 years before announcing its curtain call.
Now the space is getting a new lifeline, reportedly as a nightclub for the city’s bustling downtown, slated to open in early 2026, according to CoStar.
Sammy Chao, the venue’s former nightclub operator, ran the venue for 35 years and announced that the Mayan, located at 1038 S. Hill St., was set to close earlier this year. The future of the space caused uncertainty, including with Lucha VaVoom de la Liz, the lucha libre variety show, which hosted events there for nearly 23 years, and most recently found a new home at the Fox Theater Pomona.
CoStar reports that the new tenets have vowed to revive the Mayan and keep it as a cornerstone of downtown Los Angeles’ nightlife. The details of who the new operator is are limited, but there’s already a new Instagram account for the venue, whose bio reads, “Coming Soon: Downtown LA’s All New Revamped, Reimagined, Mayan Music Venue. The Legacy Continues Inside This Historic Landmark!”
The Mayan Theatre first opened in August 1927 and was designed by the Los Angeles architectural firm Morgan, Walls & Clements, which tasked Mexican artist Francisco Cornejo with creating the iconic, elaborate Mayan Revival interior. At first, it functioned as a standard theater and rivaled others in the city, hosting musical comedy and running in conjunction with the neighboring Belasco Theatre.
Since then, it’s gone through several transformations, featuring Spanish-language performances and film screenings, and by the 1970s, it had dabbled in screening adult films. By 1989, the building had become an integral part of the city’s landscape and was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. By the ’90s, it had morphed into a nightclub and live-music space hosting a variety of acts, from Jack White, Coldplay, and Charli XCX.
The new iteration of the Mayan is set to reopen in January 2026, according to CoStar. For updates on the venue’s timeline and future, follow @mayanla on social media.
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