L.A. Stage Alliance Launches Free Night of Theatre 2010 Thru 10/6

L.A. Stage Alliance has announced the launch of Free Night of Theatre 2010, an audience development program for theatre in greater Los Angeles. Now through October 6, visitors to www.FreeNightLA.com will be able to submit an entry to win up to five pairs of complimentary tickets to productions throughout the region. On October 9, entrants will be notified which tickets they have won, and then will attend performances during the second half of October.

This is the fourth year that L.A. Stage Alliance has been the local partner in this national initiative, created by Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national service organization for theatre (whose annual national conference will be held in Los Angeles in June, 2011). Over the last four years, L.A. theatres have delivered over 15,000 free tickets to local residents through this program (at a face value of roughly $375,000). The purpose of this program is to give residents unfamiliar with theatre or with a particular theatre company the opportunity to explore the arts at no financial cost.

Said Terence McFarland, Executive Director of L.A. Stage, "We are thrilled to announce this exciting expansion of the Free Night of Theatre program. We listened to our most enthusiastic patrons who told us they wanted the opportunity to experience additional theatres they had never attended. Also, every registered patron gains access to our weekly discount ticket program, expanding their ability to attend more theatre affordably throughout the year."

This year is notable in that L.A. Stage Alliance is piloting a new ‘enter-to-win' version of Free Night, instead of the previous version where theatres offered specific allotments and audiences raced to claim tickets. The ‘enter-to-win' version takes the time pressure away, and allows patrons to receive as many as five pairs of tickets instead of just one pair. If this new procedure is successful, it may roll out to other regions across the country in 2011.

L.A. Stage Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to building awareness, appreciation and support for the performing arts in greater Los Angeles through community building, collaborative marketing, audience development, professional development to strengthen operations for members, and advocacy. L.A. Stage serves over 325 organizational members (professional, educational, and community-based producing and presenting performing arts organizations) annually in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara and Ventura, and individual members comprised of local, regional, national, and international performing arts patrons.

Also visit www.LAStageAlliance.com or www.FreeNightLA.com.

Free Night of Theatre 2010 is sponsored by Sony Pictures Entertainment, and supported by all of L.A. Stage Alliance's funders and sponsors (list available at LAStageAlliance.com).