Beauty and the Beast

Phil Johnson

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

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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

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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!