Mill Race Theatre Company Master Classes

Mill Race Theatre Company Master Classes offers focused sessions in Mastering Music Direction, Audition Techniques, Special Effects Makeup, and Intro to Stage Combat. In these classes, participants work directly on topics such as music direction, audition preparation, creating special effects makeup (moulage) to manufacture cuts and bruises, and introductory stage combat skills.

• Ages: 8–18 years old
• Schedule: Individual master classes range from 1.5 to 2 hours in length on select Saturdays and Sundays.
• Price: Mastering Music Direction: $20. Audition Techniques: FREE. Special Effects Makeup: $20.

Mill Race Theatre Company is the oldest community theatre organization in Columbus, Indiana, with performances in Mill Race Park beginning with “Bye Bye Birdie” in the summer of 1969. As of March 2016, Mill Race Theatre Company has been determined by the IRS to be a non-profit business as defined in Section 501(c)3 of the United States Internal Revenue Code. The organization states that, through the power of the theatrical arts, it expands minds, develops character, and instills confidence, and that it nourishes collaborative possibilities to entertain, imagine, and explore.

The Master Classes are part of a series by Mill Race Theatre Company for adults, with student versions of certain master classes for incoming freshmen through incoming seniors, and some classes are combined with high school students with separate registration. For Mastering Music Direction, it is recommended that participants bring a notebook, pencil, and highlighter, and a waiver must be signed by each participant or by a parent or guardian for minors. For Audition Techniques, participants should bring a 16–32 bar cut of a song, may want to wear or bring socks because shoes need to be taken off to enter the dance studio room, and a waiver must be signed by each participant or by a parent or guardian for minors. For Special Effects Makeup, materials are provided for students to practice, and students may bring their own eyeshadow palettes and brushes if they want to try recreating things with their own makeup.

Program Manager Brittany Davis (contact: [email protected]) holds a Bachelor’s of Music in Musical Theatre from Anderson University (graduated 2021), is an actor, singer, and dancer based in Indianapolis, has been dancing since the age of four specializing in tap and musical theatre dance styles, and is a current choreographer and constant student of dance. Instructor Jenny Gafron is a professional music director and teacher, a former Mill Race Theatre Company Board Member and participant, has over 20 years of theatre experience, earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Education (vocal emphasis) from Millikin University, and currently teaches middle school music and choir in the Chicago suburbs, directing and music directing their annual musical. Instructor Riley Carter is one of the band directors at Geneva High School and Fabyan/Harrison Elementary School in Geneva, Illinois, is in his seventh year of teaching, was formerly the director of bands at Dixon High School and the music department head of Dixon Public Schools, graduated in 2018 with undergraduate degrees in Music Education and saxophone performance from Illinois State University, and completed his Master’s Degree in Music Education at Vandercook College of Music in Chicago in the summer of 2023. Instructor Johna Wilson is an Advanced EMT and Primary Instructor at Columbus Township Fire and Rescue and has been teaching EMT classes for about eight years.

The Audition Techniques class is made free and accessible to all in partnership with the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory production staff.

Last updated May 14, 2026.