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 - Newsies
ACT ONE
As Jack Kelly is savoring the last few moments of quiet before the sun rises, he shares with his best friend Crutchie his rooftop view of the city and his dream for a better life out West ("Santa Fe - Prologue"). At dawn, the newsies sing about their life and their work ("Carrying the Banner"), introducing this ramshackle group of young friends. They make their way to the distribution window for the World, where they pick up their daily stacks of papers to sell from Wiesel, who runs the window, and Morris and Oscar Delancey, goons who work for the World. Davey and Les, brothers trying to earn money for their family, meet the newsies and try to learn the ropes. Jack agrees to partner with the boys since Les's young age will help him sell more papers, although Davey is skeptical.
Meanwhile, Joseph Pulitzer, publisher of the World, expresses displeasure at the declining sales of his newspaper and vows to increase profits ("The Bottom Line"), even if it is at the expense of the newsies.
At the end of the day, it's clear that Les is a natural newsie. Before Jack and the brothers can part ways, a man appears and chases Jack. Davey and Les follow Jack's lead, running through the alleys of New York and finding safety in Medda's Theater. Jack introduces them to Medda Larkin, one of the Bowery's most famous performers. Jack explains that the man chasing them is named Snyder; he runs The Refuge, an orphanage that he keeps in squalid conditions and embezzles from. He's had it out for Jack ever since he escaped. Medda offers her theater as a safe haven, and they stay to watch her perform ("That's Rich").
During Medda's performance, Jack notices Katherine, a bright young reporter he had seen earlier that day. A smitten Jack makes several attempts to flirt with her, but Katherine, quick-witted and ever-professional, cleverly rebuffs him. While the Bowery Beauties perform their routine, Jack resorts to sketching a portrait of Katherine ("I Never Planned on You / Don't Come a-Knockin'"), and leaves it for her to find.
The next day, as the newsies gather at the distribution window, the boys are outraged to learn that Pulitzer has increased their price for newspapers - they can barely afford to eat as it is! Prompted by Davey, the newsies decide to form a union and strike ("The World Will Know").
After a successful first day of striking, newly elected union leader Jack Kelly assigns some kids to spread the word to newsies in other boroughs. Katherine arrives, hoping that the newsies will give her an exclusive for the Sun. Jack tells her to be at the distribution window the next morning; not only will the newsies prevent others from selling papers, but they plan to stop the delivery carts as well. He tells her that they all have a lot riding on her reporting skills, and Katherine gets to work writing her breakout article ("Watch What Happens").
The next day, Jack arrives to find that only a few kids have assembled to strike. He urges Davey to convince the small group not to back down. When scabs arrive to take the newsies' place, Jack asks them to stand in solidarity with all the city's exploited working children. The scabs throw down their papers, just in time for Katherine and her photographer to snap a victorious photo ("Seize the Day"). But soon the newsies engage in a fierce fight with the Delanceys, Wiesel, and the police. Snyder scares Jack away, but not before he watches the Delanceys take down Crutchie and carry him off to The Refuge. Reaching the temporary safety of his rooftop, Jack paces, feeling guilty about leading the kids into danger. He looks out over the city and longs to escape ("Santa Fe").
ACT TWO
Battered and bruised, the newsies lament the previous day's events at Jacobi's Deli. Amid rumors that Jack was captured, several newsies wonder where he is. Katherine arrives with a copy of the story she published in the Sun, complete with a front-page picture of the newsies. Ecstatically, they thank her and celebrate their - and Katherine's - fame ("King of New York"). Meanwhile, Crutchie writes a letter to Jack from The Refuge expressing that he feels no ill will toward Jack and urging the newsies to stick together ("Letter from The Refuge").
Davey, Les, and Katherine find Jack back at Medda's Theater and try to convince him to come back to the fight. Jack refuses, saying that they can't win against a man as powerful as Pulitzer. The three convince Jack that theirs is a fight worth fighting ("Watch What Happens - Reprise"); Jack finally agrees, and the kids plan a rally.
Discovering Katherine's story, Pulitzer furiously resolves to take down Jack. Just then, a cocky Jack arrives to announce the newsies' rally. Pulitzer assures Jack that no paper will cover it - and if it's not in the press, it never happened. He then reveals Katherine, exposing her as his daughter, and Snyder, who emerges from the shadows. Pulitzer offers Jack a choice: get sent to The Refuge or renounce the strike and leave New York with pockets full of cash. The Delanceys escort Jack to the cellar, where an old printing press rests, to ponder his decision ("The Bottom Line - Reprise").
That evening, Brooklyn newsies cross the bridge with Spot Conlon, their leader, to join newsies from every borough at Medda's theater for the rally ("Brooklyn's Here"). Davey gives an inspiring speech, riling up the newsies about their progress. However, Jack appears and tells them to go back to work because they are no match for Pulitzer. Jack accepts his payoff money at the door and exits quickly.
On his rooftop, Jack finds Katherine looking through his drawings of The Refuge's bleak conditions. He snatches them from her and they argue fiercely until she kisses him. Katherine shares her plan to have the newsies distribute an article which quotes Jack on the exploitation of working kids and calls for a citywide strike. Before heading to the old printing press Jack recently discovered, they share their hope in each other ("Something to Believe In").
With the help of Katherine and her well-connected friends, Darcy and Bill, the newsies sneak into Pulitzer's cellar to print their paper ("Once and for All"). The kids distribute the pamphlet all over the city.
Pulitzer's office is flooded with angry calls from every corner of New York. Having read the Newsies Banner, Pulitzer is furious at the kids' attempt to thwart him. Jack, Davey, and Spot show up ("Seize the Day - Reprise") to personally deliver the news and say that the kids are willing to make a compromise. Pulitzer refuses to back down until Governor Roosevelt appears with Katherine and Jack's drawings of The Refuge. Alone, Jack and Pulitzer come to an agreement they can both live with - the price increase is reduced by half, and publishers will buy back any unsold papers. The strike is over!
Outside, Jack announces the end of the strike. Crutchie appears amid the jubilation, followed by a handcuffed Snyder. Despite his dreams for Santa Fe, Jack realizes that the newsies are his family and Katherine gives him something to believe in - so he's staying put for now ("Finale Ultimo").
Emilia Sawyer
Emi is in her 7th year of teaching at Brighton High School. Depending on the year, Emi can be found working in the special education department or the English department. She finds joy in both. This is Emi's 4th musical at BHS. She began helping with choreography with Newsies and has been in love with the program ever since. Emi and her husband, Derek, recently welcomed their first child. She is a beautiful and sweet baby girl named Allie. Emi would like to thank her family for supporting her through musical show season, even if it means that they miss out on some time with her. She would also like to thank the cast, crew, and directors for being so passionate and motivating.
