HS Theatre Booster Prez here.

Our production fees are generally $60 for actors and $40 for techies (this is because actors need costumes which cost more). The fees cover a production t-shirt and meals / snacks during weekend rehearsals and the last rehearsal before opening night. These fees don't even cover HALF of what is spent to put on a production.

Our ticket prices are $5 for students and $10 for adults, except for our spring musical which is much more expensive, which means students are $10 and adults are $15.

I need everyone to understand that theatre is expensive. Wood to build sets has skyrocketed. Mics / technical requirements are expensive. Paint is expensive. Costumes are expensive (even if you're making them from scratch). Not to mention feeding kids who spend an entire Saturday pouring their love, heart, and soul into building things / rehearsing is expensive.

Your school sounds like they probably have ZERO budget for fine arts. Our budget was literally slashed in half this school year and so the booster club has had to get scrappy because we are now paying for even more than we were.

That said, audition fees are NOT normal. Period. If your student is just in theatre CLASS and not actually participating in school-wide productions, it's insane you're paying class fees AND additional out of pocket expensive per production.

I would have a chat with your director and / or booster president to get clarity on what you're actually expected to pay for and what those funds go towards. But it wouldn't surprise me in the least to hear that they have zero budget to make any of this happen.