“Our investors would get irritated when they found themselves paying taxes before they got money back,” Viertel said. “The notion of paying a tax on a profit you haven’t received is obnoxious, and it took six years of hard lobbying to solve the problem.”

The Broadway League, an association of theater owners and producers that spearheaded the campaign, hired Washington lobbyist, QGA Public Affairs, founded by Jack Quinn, who was counsel to former President Bill Clinton, and Ed Gillespie, a past chairman of the Republican National Committee and counselor to former President George W. Bush.

In New York

Congress voted in December to give live-theater investors for one year the same deduction that motion picture and TV investors get. Now it’s up for renewal, with a vote expected after the November elections.

Schumer, who led the effort last year, enlisted support from Republican U.S. Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, where country-music shows attract buses filled with tourists. Representative Doug Collins, a Georgia Republican, also helped in the House. The non-New Yorkers signed on at the urging of performing-art centers and theaters in their states who said they rely on touring Broadway shows to stay in business.

“There is a thriving live-theater culture in Missouri, not only in Branson, but in Kansas City, St. Louis and across the state,” Blunt said in an e-mail. “Live theater should be encouraged and often employs more local people and can have a bigger economic impact than TV and movie productions.”

Touring shows across North America grossed almost $1 billion and attracted audiences totaling almost 14 million in 200 cities, according to Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League.

In New York, during the season that ended May 22, Broadway shows attracted a record audience of more than 13.3 million, up 1.6 percent from a year earlier. Revenue totaled $1.373 billion. St. Martin said the industry supports at least 89,000 jobs and has a local economic impact of $12.57 billion. Combined with the touring shows, the industry contributes about $15.8 billion nationwide, according to the Broadway League.

Of more than 50 shows offered last year, the top-five grossing -- “Hamilton,” “The Lion King,” “Aladdin,” “Wicked” and “The Book of Mormon” -- reaped almost a third of the total.

Fend for Yourself