A new live theater tax credit may be forthcoming in Massachusetts.
The credit is part of a greater economic development bill the House is currently debating, and would offer up to $5 million in relief to pre-Broadway and pre-off Broadway theatrical productions, as well as national tours launching in the commonwealth.
“We have so many unique cultural assets in the commonwealth. We love to enjoy and celebrate them, but they just don’t work on their own — you really need to be a strong partner,” Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll told The Culture Show host Jared Bowen on Thursday. “We think about this theater tax credit as a way to help that industry, continue to grow and thrive and ensure that we’re getting those pre-Broadway productions.”
The live theater tax credit would have a similar goal as the state’s existing film and television tax credit: to promote new economic and cultural development within Massachusetts. Driscoll believes that the credit’s impact would extend further than just the productions that qualify for relief.
“It’s a really good ... economic investment as well. We know when folks go to a live theater production, they go out to eat beforehand,” said Driscoll. “We know the crews and the [actors] on stages also contribute mightily in other ways.”
The lieutenant governor also emphasized the benefits a theater tax credit could bring to smaller theaters across the state — not just those in the Boston area.
Across the bill’s multiple iterations, the language surrounding the theater tax credit has changed several times. The explicit inclusion of “regional theaters” all across Massachusetts is a priority of Driscoll’s.
“Of course, we want to support the capital city and all of the amazing places near it, but we also see ways that we can leverage greater economic impacts in places that are smaller, that are further away from Boston, that have relied on the creative economy as part of their local economy for decades,” said Driscoll. “For places that are smaller, this tax credit is actually more meaningful because it can be more costly to get to smaller places that might have ... other obstacles that make [production] a bit harder.”
Driscoll expressed optimism that the theater tax credit, as well as the larger economic development bill, will help cement Massachusetts as a desirable place for economic and cultural investment.
“I’m really hopeful that some of the initiatives that we’re working on can come together to create not only support for the creative economy, but keep the people here that we need in Massachusetts that make this place special.”
Listen to the full interview above, and listen to The Culture Show every weekday at 2 p.m. on GBH.
