So close I can taste the tax breaks.

If you asked Producers in town what they’d ask for if the genie from Aladdin came down and granted them three wishes, they’d probably say . . . lower stagehand costs, no discount tickets, and tax breaks for Broadway Investors.

Yesterday, they’d all be pipe dreams.

But today, one of them is getting closer and closer to reality.

And no, the BroadwayBox isn’t closing up its e-shop, and no, the stagehands aren’t rolling back to 1970’s wages.

But tax breaks, well, now we’re talking.

Yesterday, Sen. Charles Schumer from NY announced a bipartisan plan to get our strong-spined Broadway Investors the tax breaks they so deserve.  Schumer’s argument is the same that we’ve all been screaming for years.  “You do it for film and TV, why not Broadway?!?”

And yeah, why not?

Well, the contrarian argument against the tax break is that Broadway can’t go anywhere, so they don’t have to give a tax break . . . because there is no threat of losing the business, unlike film which can take its business and its economic impact anywhere.  Oh, and by the way, Broadway is booming, and all its theaters are full, so it’s not like we need that many more shows because we can’t even get ’em up, even if we wanted to.

That’s what Schumer’s opponents will argue, anyway.

But we know that Broadway won’t always be boomin’.  And we know we’re losing business to the UK.  And that the UK is kicking our ass in developing new, adventuresome work, because of all the money that goes to its non-profits.

If we want to stay the theatrical capital of the world, we have to guarantee that our capital stream continues to flow.  And tax breaks are part of that answer.

Support Schumer.  Send him a note on his website.  And send a note to the other Senators while you’re at it.

And I’ll keep you updated on how the bill is progressing.  I promise.

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