Live shows in NSW attracted 6.9 million people and $616 million in ticket revenue in 2017, compared with 7.5 million people who spent $639 million on performances in Victoria.

Victoria's surging audience and revenue share was driven by the popularity of Melbourne's musical theatre shows, according to a Live Performance Australia report on ticket attendance and revenue.

The attendance figures, released publicly on Thursday, have reignited calls from the entertainment industry for more commercial theatre venues to be built in Sydney to help draw major shows.

"The numbers tell a pretty stark story," Live Performance Australia chief executive Evelyn Richardson said.

"We have Victoria taking the mantle for revenue share for the first time, but also the musical theatre industry in Victoria absolutely outperforming NSW.

"Unless the NSW government urgently addresses this issue, Sydney will be on the fast-track to cultural irrelevance."

More than 1.9 million people went to a musical theatre show in Victoria in 2017, compared with 1.2 million in NSW – which has about 1.1 million more residents.

That meant Victoria generated $206 million in revenue from musical theatre ticket sales, nearly double that of NSW at $117 million.

And the average Sydneysider spent $78 a year on tickets to see live performances, compared with the typical Melbourne resident who spent $100.

Ms Richardson said NSW would continue to lose big shows and tourism dollars to Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide unless the government paid more attention to its cultural venues.

She called for the urgent reopening of the 1200-seat Theatre Royal, which closed two years ago and left Sydney with two main musical theatre venues: the Capitol Theatre and Lyric Theatre.

"Great cities have great cultural assets," she said. "In NSW, there's a lot of talk around sporting events and stadiums and no discussion of cultural assets."

Western Sydney Business Chamber president David Borger said: "Sydney's gone from three to two lyric theatres; Melbourne's got five.

"We need at least one more in the Sydney CBD but also one in Parramatta to complement the Riverside Theatre."

Theatre producer Andrew Kay, president of Live Performance Australia, said attendance was rising for theatre and live performance across the country but Sydney was becoming "a bit of a backwater in terms of venues".

"Live shows bring life, they bring vibrancy, they bring people wanting to eat, wanting to drink, wanting to park, wanting to be part of the life of the city."

It's a problem that has not gone unnoticed by Arts Minister Don Harwin, who said four international musicals – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Waitress, Chicago and Saturday Night Fever – would bring $66 million to NSW over the next two years.

"It’s no secret that in order to continue to attract these first-run major touring musicals and theatre productions, we need to invest in new Broadway-style theatres to present them in."

He said the government was exploring options for a 1500-seat lyric theatre at Ultimo as part of a creative industries precinct. It will make a final decision on the plan early next year.

But Opposition arts spokesman Walt Secord said the government's "inaction" meant Sydney was losing international shows and millions of dollars in tourist expenditure to other capital cities.

“Sadly, NSW could see the day when the Queensland or Victorian premier announces they are getting the Broadway hit Hamilton, while the NSW Premier meekly announces we are getting the umpteenth re-run of Chicago."

The attendance figures for musical theatre shows were against the backdrop of a "record-breaking year in 2017 with revenue and attendance" for live events nationally, Ms Richardson said.

More than 23 million people across the country went to live events last year, generating $1.88 billion in ticket sales.