Take a bow, October 16. It's a free night of theater!

Not long ago, museums around the country had a Museum Day. Now theaters are getting in the act.

October 16, a Thursday, is what's being called Free Night of Theater 2008. That said, some dates, on Friday and Sunday nights, for instance, are also being offered for free.

Theaters in more than 100 cities around the country will offer a night of drama for free. When I got wind of this, I hopped on over to the web site, looked up Cincinnati and promptly groaned. Every play, except "Death of a Salesman," is currently sold out. If I had known about this earlier, I might have scored some tickets to "Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat." Argh.

But, hey, maybe the rest of you folks out there will fare better. Check here for show listing sites by city.

It's one reservation per person, and frankly, I'd go look now and sign up because these tickets are going fast. I looked around in various cities, and a lot of places are sold out, but there are still gems open, like August Wilson's "Radio Golf" in Kansas City, Missouri. So get over to the web site, whether you love theater or theatre and try to find a free seat.

And as they say backstage: Break a leg!

Geoff Williams is a freelance journalist and the author of C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America (Rodale).