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

Bond is NOT acceptable. I'm not even sure basic membership fees are OK, unless of course they cover something like your PL Insurance, a necessity these days. $200 is ridiculous. loyalty is nothing to do with money and everything to do with relationships. I know of only 3 times somebody has pulled out of a show I was involved in. 2 for health and one because of a very serious family issue. In all cases the show was able to go ahead with a short flurry of activity... I'd be looking at why people left me high and dry. (personal responsibility is a very powerful place from which to live your life!) Take time to train an understudy if you're worried. The understudy will be very unlikely to pull out if their chance were to arrive. and if you are going to blow $150K of your own money, then only hire and contract professionals. Or contract your (volunteer) cast. Get more money- Get sponsors in your program, for your company etc. Charge $2 extra on each ticket. rather than screwing the very people who are already giving of their time and experience for free. Basically, as I have said too many times now- if you cannot afford to do your show, then you simply CAN'T DO IT! Any business out there that tries to operate on this basis would at the least disappear quickly, at the worst, find themselves in court for operating under false pretenses. e.g. Imagine if your local small deli went bust, having charged its three volunteer 16 yr old serving staff a bond (and not paying them by the way, as they weren't trained/qualified), because "operating a deli is expensive, I put in lots of my own money, and we were all passionate about the deli."?! There is a reason why financiers such as banks go through a bunch of criteria for financing businesses, and being likely to not see their money disappear is paramount. It just sounds like another passionate artistic person (a good thing) not having enough of a clue about their business (a bad thing). Yes people, unfortunately it is a business- a highly expensive and risky one. This director appears to be screwing over the very people he or she needs to make it work. And it's all OK because it's being performed in a professional theatre????!!!! That argument defies belief. Neville It's the simple things stupid...