How much does it cost to run a minstrel troupe, and who pays for it?
A large troupe will easily spend several hundred thousand South African Rands [tens of thousands of dollars] each year on its activities. Major expenses include transportation for members to rehearsals, parades, and competition, rental for rehearsal halls and clubhouses, hiring choir and band directors, vocal soloists, and marching instructors, and supplying food and drink to members at rehearsals and after parades and competitions. The troupe owner (sometimes called the “Captain”) and leading troupe members (the “Committee”) pay for these expenses out of their own pockets. The Western Cape provincial government and the Cape Town municipal government provide small subsidies. A few of the largest and most successful troupes have corporate sponsorship.
