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Did We Mention These Tickets Are Free?


by Jerome Weeks 30 Sep 2008 10:29 PM

Did we mention that these tickets are GONE? That’s right. All 3,000 tickets or so were scooped up in about 40 minutes or so. Of course, area theaters generally offer various kinds of discounts, so if there’s a show you really wish to see, check out the possible low prices. And you can always wait […]
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  • Did we mention that these tickets are GONE? That’s right. All 3,000 tickets or so were scooped up in about 40 minutes or so. Of course, area theaters generally offer various kinds of discounts, so if there’s a show you really wish to see, check out the possible low prices. And you can always wait until next year: As the Office of Cultural Affairs’ Greg McPherson says in the article, Free Night of Theater in North Texas may well be an annual event

Today – if you’re quick – you can get free tickets to theater performances. That’s because at noon today, 27 North Texas theaters will give away some 3,000 free tickets to their shows.

The online giveaway is part of a nationwide program called Free Night of Theater. It was started by the non-profit organization, Theatre Communications Group.

Free Night of Theater began in 2005 in just three cities – Austin, Philadelphia and San Francisco. This year more than 75,000 free tickets will be given away in 120 cities.

In North Texas, the free tickets will be for 29 different shows running between Oct. 16 and Nov. 10. Participating theater companies include the Dallas Theater Center, Lyric Stage, Dallas Children’s Theater, the Black Academy of Arts and Letters and the Eisemann Center.

The idea is to reach out to new audiences by removing all barriers that might prevent someone from attending live theater. Follow-up research has shown that once people attend a theater for free, the majority of them return to buy tickets for another show.

The Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs worked to bring the project to North Texas. Cultural Affair’s Greg MacPherson says that the theaters’ input and queries from the public have been encouraging signs.

MacPherson: “Obviously, we have to wait and see how this first year goes. But everything that I see to this point has been very positive in terms of the awareness and the theater community working together. So I think we would definitely like to see this become an annual event.”

Reservations for the free tickets can only be done online beginning at noon today, and reservations are handled on a first-come, first-served basis. Go to freenightoftheater.com for more information.

But as of 1 p.m., all the possible tickets were gone.

Ticket image from sevenseconddelay.blogspot.com. Free sign image from iplinfo.net



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About Jerome Weeks

Jerome Weeks is the Senior Arts Reporter/Producer for KERA. Previously at The Dallas Morning News, he was the book columnist for 10 years and the drama critic for 10 years before that. His writing has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Salon, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, American Theatre and Men’s Vogue magazines. View more about Jerome Weeks.

COMMENTS

  • SandraTiggs

    THANK YOU KERA for covering this story. I had heard nothing about it from the theaters I normally subscribe to. This could be the shot in the arm Dallas theater needs to keep breathing.

  • Thanks, again, for making this information available to working people such as myself.