That day, Mr. Small deposited one million dollars in a Toronto bank account, lunched with his wife and was never seen again.

In 1975, the governing board decided to react to the deteriorating state of the building with a major reconstruction costing five million dollars that was completed in 1978.

The reconstruction included reinforcement of the main stage's proscenium arch as the sole major component of the building's original design and the addition of the McManus Studio as a secondary venue.

Among the notable actors who have performed at The Grand are: W.C. Fields, Sarah Bernhardt, Michael Redgrave, Donald O'Connor, Sidney Poitier, Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn, Maggie Smith, Michael Burgess, William Hutt, Martha Henry, Karen Kain, Victor Garber, Sandra Oh, and Leonard Nimoy.

Annually (since 1998), a full-length musical is performed on the main stage featuring a full cast of high school students.

However, due to the success of West Side Story in 1998, the High School Project remained a Broadway musical from 2000 on.