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!
Show Synopsis - White Christmas
ACT ONE
The story begins with World War II U.S. Army buddies, Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, on Christmas Eve 1944 somewhere on the Western Front. The troops have gotten hold of a Christmas tree, and Wallace and Davis are putting on a make-shift holiday show for the troops of the 151st Division (White Christmas/Happy Holidays). Major General Henry Waverly arrives for the end of the show and holds a field inspection before being relieved of command of the 151st Division.
After the war in 1954, the pair, now labeled “America’s favorite song-and-dance-team,” appear on The Ed Sullivan Show (Happy Holidays/Let Yourself Go). Wallace and Davis plug their new show Blue Skies set to open on Christmas Eve in Florida. Before leaving their dressing room, Davis tells Wallace about a letter he received from an old army buddy of theirs asking them to go watch his sisters’ act. Davis convinces Wallace he needs to fall in love and that the Haynes sisters could be good for them (Love and the Weather), so Wallace reluctantly agrees to go watch the girls.
They go to the club to audition the sister act (Sisters), only to discover that Judy actually sent Davis the letter. Wallace and Davis have train tickets to go to Florida for their new show that night, while Betty and Judy are booked to leave for Pinetree, Vermont. Davis and Judy dance together at the club and decide to trick Wallace into going to Vermont so all four of them can be together (The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing).
Wallace and Davis board the same train as the Haynes sisters, and it doesn’t take long for Wallace to figure out he has been played. The four begin to get excited about arriving in Vermont (Snow), but when the train pulls in, things are not exactly as expected.
They discover that the Columbia Inn in Pinetree is run by their former commanding officer, Major General Waverly, and it’s about to go bankrupt because of the lack of snow and, therefore, lack of guests. The General has invested all of his savings, pension and hope into the inn, so the foursome want to help out and bring business back (What Can You Do with a General).
Wallace and Davis bring Blue Skies and their entire Broadway cast to Vermont and add Betty and Judy into the show. Martha, Columbia Inn’s concierge, also gets in on the show after impressing Wallace and Davis with her talent (Let Me Sing and I’m Happy).
That night, the General’s granddaughter, Susan, is upset. She can’t sleep because she discovered her grandfather tried to rejoin the army but was rejected and now feels like he doesn’t belong. Wallace comforts her until she falls asleep (Count Your Blessings) and then shares a romantic moment with Betty.
After hearing about the General’s rejected plans to rejoin the Army, Wallace decides to prove to him that he is not forgotten. He calls his friend and former army cohort, Ralph Sheldrake, at the Ed Sullivan Show to have him send out letters to the men under the command of the General in the war. The letters are part of a “secret plan” to get the men to come to the inn for the holiday and surprise the General. Sheldrake returns Wallace’s call to let him know that the “secret plan” is going great, but Martha answers the phone and confuses the message thinking Sheldrake is a real estate bigwig and that Wallace is going to force the General to sell the inn. After Martha tells Betty about the phone call, Betty confronts Wallace about his intentions but still doesn’t learn the truth (Blue Skies).
ACT TWO
A full run-through of the show is taking place in the barn (I Love a Piano) while romantic drama ensues: Judy’s angry at Davis for his flirtatious manner with all the chorus girls, and Betty is packing for New York because of what she thinks Wallace is going to do to the General (Falling Out of Love Can Be Fun). Susan is also desperately trying to create an act to be part of the show but is turned down by Wallace and Davis. Back in the rehearsal hall, nobody can find the Hayes sisters, so Wallace and Davis rehearse their number for them (Sisters Reprise). Susan tells Wallace that Betty has left for New York, and he goes after her immediately.
In New York, Betty is performing at The Regency Room (Love You Didn’t Do Right by Me/How Deep is the Ocean). Wallace brings Sheldrake to watch Betty’s performance and afterwards they explain the “secret plan” to her. Betty agrees to return to Vermont.
Before leaving New York, Wallace makes another appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show to announce one final time that all the men of the 151st Division should go to the General’s inn for Christmas (We’ll Follow the Old Man).
Wallace and Betty return to the inn to find that Judy and Davis have gotten engaged, and Susan is going to have an act in the show (Let Me Sing and I’m Happy Reprise).
On the night of the show, Martha convinces the General that all of his suits have been sent to the cleaners, and General Waverly concludes that he’ll have to appear in his old uniform. The cast is getting ready in the barn when Wallace and Betty confess their love for one another (How Deep Is the Ocean Reprise). When the General enters the barn where the show is to take place, he is greeted by his former division (We’ll Follow the Old Man Reprise). The show is performed without a hitch (Happy Holiday/White Christmas), and snow begins to fall as the foursome celebrate their love (Finale: I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm).
