Aotearoa / New Zealand

I felt the same when I first heard, because it seemed surprising compared with the amount I'd paid for a couple of tickets, but I'm no longer as sure about it. I really have to stress that what I'm saying is hearsay. NZ already has lots of amateur theatre, and lots of people are in it because they enjoy it rather than because they're pinning any hopes on a full time paid job.

With some quick googling, Les Mis was put on (in Wellington recently at least) by the Capital Theatre Trust and G&T Productions. The first of those, at least, looks like a non-profit and is also putting on Wicked later this year, for which the audition pack also advises that all roles are available on an unpaid basis. If you are a non-profit then I guess you structure things to pay for stuff that people aren't already keen to do for free (except the awesomeness of being part of a big flashy stage production in a major theatre in front of thousands of people), and set the ticket prices based on that. I think it'd be interesting to learn more about what people involved in productions like this think of it, if anyone in that situation is lurking.