The Sheridan Theater

6221 Georgia Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20012

Opened in 1937 - Closed In 1968

The Sheridan Theater opened on January 14, 1937 with a big ceremony attended by Warner Bros. officials and featuring a live orchestra. The first feature was Sing Me A Love Song starring James Melton and Patricia Ellis. 

The Sheridan could seat just under 1,000 people and served the upper northwest Brightwood Neighborhood of Washington DC. The Sheridan Theater was designed by another important theater architect, John Eberson, and is one of only 3 of the 14 theaters he designed in Washington DC that still remain. Following a period of designing sumptuous movie palaces, in the 1930s, Eberson started to design movie theaters for Warner Bros. which were simpler and featured stunning Art Deco and Classical Moderne styles. The Sheridan Theater is a fine example of one of Eberson’s Classical Moderne streamlined designs that includes  stores in the “Park ‘n Shop” section integral to the design. It was the first theater in Washington to link a movie theater and an integral “park and shop” style shopping center.[1]  The Sheridan showed Greek movies for a time in 1960. 

It closed in 1968. The Blackman’s Development Center, a community action group, acquired the Sheridan in 1971 and Paul Allen’s Black American Theater moved into the theater in 1973. The theater was later used as a church; the 8-year-old evangelist Little Michael preached there in October 1975. Currently it is used as a retail store. The exterior of the theater with the large “Sheridan” sign and adjacent stores is in nearly original condition, but the interior has been remodeled. The Sheridan Theater has an application for historic landmark status outstanding.

[1] Sheridan Theatre and “Park ‘ Shop,” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, nd.