Mr. Johnson joined the Brighton Musical Theater Creative Team in 2012. He has conducted the orchestra and prepared the chorus for each of the past 11 shows. He is proud to share recognition for “Excellence in Music Direction” with the 2023 BMT team for “Guys and Dolls”, presented by the Sutton Foster Ovation Awards. Phil has conducted Brighton High School choirs at Michigan Youth Arts Festival/All State Festival multiple times. He is a 3-time State Honors Choir Director. Mr. Johnson received nominations for the 2019 and 2022 Teacher of the Year through the Michigan School Vocal Music Association. He sings baritone with the professional a Cappella group, TBD a Cappella, whose debut album “The Answer’s 42” won the 2021 Contemporary a Cappella Recording Award for “Best Post-Collegiate Album”. He and his wife, Dianne, have three children; Ethan, Maxwell and Adeline who enjoy traveling in their RV. The children will begin auditioning for the Brighton Musical casts in 2025, 2028, and 2031 respectively! Mr. Johnson would like to thank the cast, crew, orchestra, parent volunteers, and creative team for being “All In This Together”!
Michelle Holowicki
Michelle has been privileged to teach Social Studies at BHS since 2006 - the year of High School Musical’s movie debut! Mrs. Holowicki has a passion for U.S. history and government, and for musicals and dancing. She co-directed and choreographed twelve Brighton Musical productions, including Footloose, Bye Bye Birdie, Legally Blonde, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Grease, Nice Work If You Can Get It, White Christmas, Honeymoon in Vegas, Pippin, Newsies, Cinderella and the Broadway Musical Revue. Being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021 took her away from the theater for the past two years to focus on her health, but she is thrilled and thankful to be cancer-free and back to the stage this year! She and her husband Josh are the proud parents of their daughter Ellery (4), and son Jeremiah (2), who have also taken a liking to this High School Musical and others! She is grateful to God for infinite blessings and answers to prayer, her imaginative husband Josh for his contributions to the program, and the Creative Team for going above and beyond! She would like to congratulate the cast, crew and all production teams for their hard work, vision, energy and expertise! It’s been a long-time vision to bring High School Musical to the BCPA stage! So thankful for this dream-team. What team?!?! WILDCATS!
Josh Holowicki
Josh’s passion for theater has brought him to the BCPA for his thirteenth show with the Brighton High School Musical Theater Program. He has over 20 years of lighting and scenic design experience, has designed numerous lighting systems, and has learned from or worked directly with top lighting designers, including Tony Award winner Ken Billington. Josh owns E2i Design, a lighting, audio, and video design firm. Josh also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Brighton Center for Performing Arts. He would like to thank all of the hard working volunteer parents who have made this show a success; without you we could not pull this off. He would also like to thank the cast and student production team members for their tireless dedication to excellence; it’s never easy but always worth it! Additionally, he would like to thank his fellow Creative Team members for their unbelievable investment of time, talent, and energy to bring something unique and special to the BCPA stage! Lastly, and most importantly, he would like to give a BIG shout out to his wife Michelle whose commitment to this program is unlike anything he has ever seen in professional theater.
Kristine Stuenkel
Kristine has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Western Michigan University. She has been working in theater for over 15 years. She has designed the costumes for Brighton High School’s Cinderella, Newsies, Pippin, Robin Hood, Honeymoon in Vegas, White Christmas, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Grease, Beauty and the Beast, Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz and Guys and Dolls. Other credits include The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan and Seussical for Encore Youth Theater; Hunchback of Notre Dame, Oklahoma!, Clue and Sherlock Holmes for Hartland High School. Kristine has been acting as producer for Brighton Musical since 2021. She has also co-directed BHS Dramatic Arts the past three years alongside her dear friend Sonja Marquis, producing Mutually Assured Destruction, Peter and The Starcatcher and Radium Girls. Special thanks to her creative team friends who have encouraged her when she felt pushed out of her comfort zone. She is extremely thankful for their obvious talents but even more so for their kind and supportive hearts and an environment that fosters not only creativity but growth and challenge. She is also grateful for the gift of mentoring the students who keep her heart full and her mind open. It truly is a gift to see them fly!
Sonja Marquis
Sonja Marquis is a professional actor, director and sound designer from Brighton. She has worked with numerous theaters throughout southeastern Michigan, including Tipping Point Theatre, Purple Rose Theatre Company, The Dio, Flint Repertory Theatre, Williamston Theatre, Encore Musical Theatre Company, Detroit Public Theatre, and Detroit’s Music Hall. Sonja is honored to have received several awards and nominations for her work, including Wilde Award wins for her portrayals of Rosie (Mamma Mia) and Louise (Always…Patsy Cline) at The Encore Musical Theatre Company, and Betty (The Great American Trailer Park Musical) at The Dio. Upcoming projects include playing Sally Ben in What Springs Forth this summer at The Purple Rose Theatre Company. She is currently a Lecturer with Oakland University’s Department of Theatre and has worked with young artists of all ages as a theater instructor, playwright, mentor, and director. In 2022, she partnered with Kristine Stuenkel to direct BHS Dramatic Arts productions, and she has been with Brighton Musical since the fall of 2019. Sonja loves being part of the Creative Team, is grateful for the program’s incredible volunteers, and adores these students. She hopes the cast's high school theater experiences inspire them to continue to create, explore, and support the arts!
Bella Rabold
Bella is a Brighton Musical alumni. With six years of competitive dance and four years of musical theater under her belt, she is elated to have the opportunity to help choreograph this show. Bella was on stage for multiple productions during her high school career, including Newsies and Cinderella. She began working behind the scenes on The Wizard of Oz as assistant choreographer. She went on to choreograph Guys and Dolls last year. Bella is currently working towards a degree in Secondary Education with a focus in English and a minor in Psychology at Eastern Michigan University. She would like to thank her fellow directors for the opportunity to be a part of this production, and for being such a creative, collaborative team!
Show Synopsis - Guys and Dolls
Act I
A pantomime of never-ceasing activities depicts the hustle and bustle of New York City ("Runyonland"). Three small-time gamblers, Nicely-Nicely Johnson, Benny Southstreet, and Rusty Charlie, argue over which horse will win a big race ("Fugue for Tinhorns"). The band members of the Save-a-Soul Mission, led by the pious and beautiful Sergeant Sarah Brown, call for sinners to "Follow the Fold" and repent. Nicely and Benny's employer, Nathan Detroit, runs an illegal floating crap game. Due to local policeman Lt. Brannigan's strong-armed presence, he has found only one likely spot to hold the game: the "Biltmore garage". Its owner, Joey Biltmore, requires a $1,000 security deposit, and Nathan is broke ("The Oldest Established"). Nathan hopes to win a $1,000 bet against Sky Masterson, a gambler willing to bet on virtually anything. Nathan proposes a bet he believes he cannot lose: Sky must take a woman of Nathan's choice to dinner in Havana, Cuba. Sky agrees, and Nathan chooses Sarah Brown.
At the mission, Sky attempts to make a deal with Sarah; offering her "one dozen genuine sinners" in exchange for the date in Havana. Sarah refuses, and they argue over whom they will fall in love with ("I'll Know"). Sky kisses Sarah, and she slaps him. Nathan goes to watch his fiancée of 14 years, Adelaide, perform her nightclub act (“A Bushel and a Peck”). After her show, she asks him to marry her once again, telling him that she has been sending her mother letters for twelve years claiming that they have been married with five children. She finds out that Nathan is still running the crap game. After kicking him out, she reads a medical book telling her that her long-running cold may be due to Nathan's refusal to marry her ("Adelaide's Lament").
The next day, Nicely and Benny watch as Sky pursues Sarah, and Nathan tries to win back Adelaide's favor. They declare that guys will do anything for the dolls they love ("Guys and Dolls"). General Cartwright, the leader of Save-a-Soul, visits the mission and explains that she will be forced to close the branch unless they succeed in bringing some sinners to the upcoming revival meeting. Sarah, desperate to save the mission, promises the General "one dozen genuine sinners", implicitly accepting Sky's deal. Brannigan discovers a group of gamblers waiting for Nathan's crap game, and to convince him of their innocence, they tell Brannigan their gathering is Nathan's "surprise bachelor party". This satisfies Brannigan, and Nathan resigns himself to eloping with Adelaide. Adelaide goes home to pack, promising to meet him after her show the next afternoon. The Save-A-Soul Mission band passes by, and Nathan sees that Sarah is not in it; he realizes that he lost the bet and faints.
In a Havana nightclub, Sky buys a drink for himself and a "Cuban milkshake" for Sarah. She doesn't realize that the drink contains Bacardi rum, and she gets drunk and kisses Sky ("If I Were a Bell"). Sky realizes that he genuinely cares for Sarah, and he takes her back to New York. They return at around 4:00 a.m., and Sky tells Sarah how much he loves the early morning ("My Time of Day"). They both spontaneously admit that they're in love ("I've Never Been in Love Before"). A siren sounds and gamblers run out of the mission, where Nathan has been holding the crap game. Sarah assumes that Sky took her to Havana so Nathan could run the game in the mission, and she walks out on him.
Act II
The next evening, Adelaide performs her act ("Take Back Your Mink"). Nathan doesn't show up for the elopement because he's still running the crap game. She soon realizes that Nathan has stood her up again ("Adelaide's Second Lament").
Sarah admits to Arvide, her uncle and fellow mission worker, that she does love Sky, but she will not see him again. Arvide expresses his faith in Sky's inherent goodness and urges Sarah to follow her heart ("More I Cannot Wish You"). Sky tells Sarah he intends to deliver the dozen genuine sinners for the revival. She doesn't believe him and walks off, but Arvide subtly encourages him.
Nicely shows Sky to the crap game; now in the sewers ("Crapshooters Dance"). Big Jule, a gambler, has lost a large sum of money and refuses to end the game until he earns it back. Sky arrives and fails to convince the crapshooters to come to the mission. He gives Nathan $1,000 and claims that he lost the bet to protect Sarah. Sky makes a last-minute bet to get the sinners; if he loses, everyone gets $1,000, but if he wins, they go to the mission ("Luck Be a Lady"). He wins the bet. Nathan runs into Adelaide on his way there. She tries to get him to elope, but when he can't, she walks out on him. Nathan professes his love for her ("Sue Me"), then leaves.
Sarah is shocked to see that Sky carried through on his promise. The General asks the gamblers to confess their sins, and while some do, one of them admits the real reason they are even there. The General is thrilled that good can come from evil. Attempting to appear contrite, Nicely invents a dream that encouraged him to repent, and the gamblers join in with revivalist fervor ("Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat"). Brannigan arrives and threatens to arrest everyone for the crap game in the Mission, but Sarah clears them, saying that none of the gamblers were at the mission the previous night. After Brannigan leaves, Nathan confesses that they held the crap game in the mission. He also confesses to the bet he made with Sky about taking Sarah to Havana. He adds that he won the bet, to Sarah's shock, and she realizes that Sky wanted to protect her reputation and must genuinely care about her.
Sarah and Adelaide run into each other, and they commiserate and then resolve to marry their men anyway and reform them later ("Marry the Man Today"). A few weeks later, Nathan owns a newsstand and has officially closed the crap game. Sky, who is now married to Sarah, works at the mission band and has also stopped gambling. The characters celebrate as Nathan and Adelaide are married ("Guys and Dolls (Finale/Reprise)").
