All the City’s a Stage. And, For One Month, 3,000 Tickets Will Be Free.

Love the concept (and the logo): free tickets to Dallas stage productions, no strings attached. It’s called Free Night of Theater, go figure, and it takes place not only in Dallas, but in dozens of cities across the country — a far cry from the three (Philadelphia, San Francisco and Austin) that participated in the pilot program back in 2005. This is Dallas’s first year to participate in the program, created by New York City-based nonprofit Theatre Communications Group with the intention of attracting strangers to the live theatuh.

All of the local bigwigs are participating in the event, which runs October 16 through November 10; a complete list of theaters and shows is on the Office of Cultural Affairs’ Web site. Only, it’ll be a while before you can get in virtual line: You can only snag tickets — about 3,000 of which will distributed through the program — from the Free Night of Theater site beginning at noon October 1. And do note, “reservations are handled on a first come, first serve basis,” says the site, which adds that “each participating theatre will set a reservation ticket limit for their productions.” By the way, they do ask one thing of the seasoned theatergoer: Please, please, please pick a theater you’ve never visited. Speaking of live local theater, incidentally, a delightful item from Elaine Liner is forthcoming today. –Robert Wilonsky