Is it normal to be charged a bond in amateur musicals?

I'm pretty close to a former performer of a recent BLOC show so I was pretty involved with the company for a while. I can tell you first hand the company is legitimate. The productions are held at the Seymour Centre, the performers are of a high standard, and the director is someone who fronts an absolute fortune of his own money to give amateur level performers an opportunity to perform in a well respected theatre. The level of performance hovers between amateur and pro. The type of people who go for this company from what I understand are typically those who have a lot of amateur experience and who are wanting to step to a higher level in preparation for pro. I know ticket sales for the show were very healthy but didn't go all the way by any means to covering the cost of the show. There is the high cost of the Seymour, costumes, orchestra, marketing, T shirts, taping of the show etc etc. This is a director who genuinely loves theatre and a good show and is prepared to put his money on the table to get exposure for the company and it's performers. They're making the shift from amateur, community hall level, toward pro. and this means bigger venues, bigger costs, higher standards of performance. I understand from an outsiders point of view it's hard to tell which companies are legitimate, and I'd feel the same way if I heard about a $200 bond from a company I hadn't heard of. To be honest I have no opinion about whether this is a lot of money or not since I haven't been around musical theatre enough to know what's appropriate and what's not - so you may have to take the other people's advice there. All I can do is tell you about this particular company. I've seen a lot of the cast for the current show and musically they're amazing. Definitely a good company to be involved with if you want to lift your skills, and the experience of performing at the Seymour alone is worth it I'd say.