Free Night of Theater

Free Night of Theater is TCG's annual national audience development program to attract new theatregoers to America’s not-for-profit theatres. Since the pilot program debuted in 2005, Free Night has increased in scope and participation each year.

As TCG rolls out Free Night across an expanding national stage, we strongly believe that the program has a proven track record of success in turning Free Night patrons into returning paying customers. The program also provides a unique opportunity for theatres nationwide to collaborate on a project that will positively affect their visibility, sponsorship opportunities and provide access for new audiences to experience the joy of theatre for the first time. Complete program guidelines and participation criteria are now available on the TCG website at Guidelines.

In 2007 the program has expanded through a process of targeted growth and particpation is not available to open enrollment. TCG's focus in 2007 is to selectively introduce Free Night into regions of the country currently not represented in the program, specifically communities in the Midwest, mountain states and the Southeast.

TCG has confirmed the participation of Atlanta, Austin, Boise, Cincinnati, Cleveland, the state of Connecticut, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Lexington (KY), Los Angeles, the state of New Jersey, the state of North Carolina, Oregon (in Ashland and Eugene), Philadelphia, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle/Greater Puget Sound, South Carolina/Charleston, several states represented by Southeastern Theatre Conference, Utah, Washington D.C. and the state of Wisconsin.

TCG continues to work closely with APASO organizations to produce Free Night and has introduced arts councils as management partners in 2007. Free Night will be presented in over 70 cities across the country, with the goal to expand individual theatre participation to 500 theatres, that will in turn offer as many as 50,000 free tickets nationally.

The program was conceived at TCG’s National Conference in Milwaukee in 2003 and launched in October 2005 as a pilot program in three cities: Austin, TX; Philadelphia, PA and San Francisco, CA. The 2006 program expanded to include the pilot partners plus thirteen additional communities: the cities of Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Lexington, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Seattle and Washington, DC; and the states of Connecticut, Oregon, New Jersey, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

For more details about the 2005 and 2006 Free Night events, please visit the 2005 Overview and 2006 Overview pages.

Free Night of Theater 2007 will open on Thursday, October 18, 2007 - for more information on the program please visit www.freenightoftheater.net.