CHICAGO – The New York-bound musical “Kinky Boots” enjoyed a pre-Broadway run at a downtown Chicago theater this fall, but only after the state of Illinois lured producers with something that’s scarce these days – money.

The Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein production that’s based on a 2005 movie, along with a second musical, “Big Fish,” were the first to apply for a certificate making them eligible for a state theater tax credit.

Lawmakers slipped it into a package of tax breaks approved late last year for corporate heavyweights Sears Holding Corp. and the CME Group Inc.