Free theater night attracts 3,700

Thursday night’s theater-going was gratis for 3,700 folks around the Southland who took in plays staged by 48 companies, large to tiny, as part of the “Free Night of Theatre” audience-building promotion coordinated by the L.A. Stage Alliance.

According to an online survey of the comp-grabbers, 75% used the opportunity to check out a theater they hadn’t gone to before.

The younger audiences that theaters covet -- people under 35 -- accounted for 9% of the offer-takers, while the rest were evenly distributed among age ranges 35-49, 50-64 and 65 and over, according to the stage alliance.