Free Night of Art offers free tickets to 'Nightmare’ haunted house, spooky plays and other October arts in Utah

Nightmare on 13th Haunted House. Odyssey Dance Theatre’s annual production of “Thriller." The movie “Rocky Horror Picture Show" and the plays “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" and “The Addams Family.”

Utah arts groups are offering free tickets to those spooky favorites and more as last year’s Free Night of Theater expands this year to become Free Night of Art.

More than 520 tickets are committed — so more than 260 people will each win a pair of tickets. All performances will be in October. Enter to win free tickets Sept. 1-15 at NowPlayingUtah.com.

At the site, you’ll have to create (or return to) a profile that includes your name, email address and phone number, then pick two events you’d like to attend. (See full list below.) You can return to change your choices through Sept. 15.

No purchase is required. On Sept. 22, winners will be notified via email.

“By expanding it to Free Night of Arts this year, we’re hoping that we’ll get people not only checking out theater, but also going to museums, the opera, ballet and other art forms,” said Kylie Howard, director of operations for NowPlayingUtah.com, which is operated by the Utah Cultural Alliance.

The emphasis is on new experiences. If you have season tickets to, say, the Utah Opera, chances are you’re not going to win free tickets to the Utah Opera. And the system keeps track of who has won tickets to what in the past.

“The whole idea of this is that we’re prioritizing new users who haven’t won before, and also prioritizing them going to new theaters or other venues,” Howard said.

Free Night of Theater has proven popular, with thousands of people vying for hundreds of tickets. “We had a number of people who commented that they really enjoyed the opportunity to try things out,” Howard said.

The list of arts organizations that have donated tickets and are participating has expanded to dance, music, museums, workshops, a haunted house and more.

The contest is one of several ways Utah arts groups are trying to get new audiences into their seats. Some others:

Discounts for students

NowPlayingUtah.com is also a clearinghouse, of sorts, for student discounts to performances and exhibits. Go to the homepage and click on “Discounts & Free,” then click on “Student Discounts.”

You’ll find an array of links that will show you student discounts for everything from chamber music to classical Greek theater, performances by Salt Lake Acting Company to Clever Octopus art supplies.

“Instead of having to go to 20 different places to find out where you can get a discount,” Howard said, “it’s all listed right there.”

Each organization sets its own rules for who can purchase student discounts and what those discounts are. Some offer internships or credit toward tickets for volunteering.

Last-minute deals

It’s not exactly the TKTS booth on Broadway, but NowPlayingUtah.com does have its own version of last-minute discount tickets. And they’re not just restricted to students.

On the homepage, click on “Discounts & Free” and then on “Flash Discounts,” where you may find those last-minute deals.

“It’s a great way for organizations that have extra inventory to sell it at a discounted rate,” Howard said. “You have to pick up these tickets before they’re gone, because they are at such a steeply reduced rate.”

You can sign up for NowPlayingUtah.com email alerts and receive notifications of flash sales.

And, of course, if you click on “Free” under “Discounts & Free,” you’ll find a listing of events that are — you guessed it! — free.

A less intimidating approach

Many performing arts groups offer performances tailored for audiences who want a shorter presentation, or a quieter environment, or less pressure to sit still.

Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company has one scheduled this month for people wanting to dip a toe into modern dance. For each program during its season, Ririe-Woodbury offers a Moving Parts Family Series performance, designed to let families try a show at a bargain.

On Saturday, Sept. 28, at 1 p.m., the company will offer a condensed, one-hour performance of its show “Traces.” The matinee has a family-friendly ticket price of $8 a ticket.

“It’s for anybody who’s maybe new to the performing arts experience,” said Tori Duhaime, Ririe-Woodbury’s marketing director. “It’s really meant to make the experience more comfortable.”

“Traces” runs Sept. 26-28 at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center in Salt Lake City.

Find similar offerings on organizations’ websites. Utah Symphony | Utah Opera schedules shortened Access to Music performances for children with special needs and their families; there are more than 2,000 families and organizations on its invitation list.

After more than 1,000 people attended a January 2018 Access to Music concert, many sent their thanks, the Utah Symphony | Utah Opera later told Salt Lake County funding officials.

“Thank you so much for providing an event where we could just enjoy the beauty of music without worrying about how our child’s behavior would impact the ability of others to enjoy the evening,” one parent wrote. “It was so nice to feel that we were not just tolerated, but welcome.”

Special pricing

Many groups offer lower-cost packages now or deals as the season goes on.

For example, “rush tickets” are not a chance to hear Canada’s greatest rock band, but an old stage tradition of selling seats to theatrical performances just before the curtain rises.

Pioneer Theatre Company has turned that tradition into a season-length opportunity, with its Rush Pass. For $150, a pass holder can get into any PTC performance one hour before curtain, if there’s a seat available.

There’s no limit on how many times a pass holder can get into a show, and passes are not transferable.

Pioneer Theatre starts its season on Sept. 20 with the Broadway-bound musical “Cagney.”