“The kids loved seeing themselves on the big screen,” Emily Mirabile said. “I have to say that it turned out pretty great for our first time making a movie in Y-Arts.”

The kids Mirabile is referring to are the Boothbay and CLC YMCA youth of Y-Arts. The big screen was the Lincoln Theater’s, in late August, for the world premiere of the film "I Love Maine,” based on the original stage musical written and composed by Joel Biron.

Mirabile, director/choreographer of both the stage and film versions, said the movie was hugely successful – just like the stage version, which premiered at the Lincoln Theater in 2016 with a cast of 50 Boothbay and CLC YMCA youths. The premise of the musical: After being assigned a report on Maine for school, a student is taken on a tour of the state by a guide, to understand its history, ecology, lighthouses, lobster, Vacationland, Joshua Chamberlain, forests, wildlife and potatoes.

The movie musical “I Love Maine” screens at the Harbor Theater at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3! The movie stars Sophia Mansfield and Josephine Shea who have appeared in numerous Y-Arts productions. The 2018 Movie Musical Campers, with special performances by Andy Hamblett, Andrew Fenniman, Corey Pottle, Joel Biron, Roosevelt Bishop, Rick Hilscher, Jackie McLoon and Taylor Fish make for one large, entertaining cast!

This summer, Mirabile and over 30 young performers filmed the scenes and songs on location throughout the state. Biron’s story, lyrics and music are outstanding and oh-so-entertaining. I can still recall the crustacean quartet doing “The Lobstah,”and that beautiful song about a lighthouse; the history component included a song about the Missouri Compromise, and another about Joshua Chamberlain's role during the Civil War as a brigadier and major general in the Union army, and as governor of the state of Maine.

There were a few changes involved in the movie version of “I Love Maine” : “We did have to alter some of the lines to fit this setting and our staff re-wrote one scene to add in a puppet, ‘Sesame Street’ type element,” Mirabile said.

For 10 years, Y-Arts has produced up to four Broadway Junior musicals during its summer camps and Mirabile said it was time to “mix it up” while continuing to put on three fully staged musicals. Filming one of those musicals will now be part of the Y-Arts program – what Mirabile and Biron call “very exciting stuff!”

“‘I Love Maine’ is a huge success. Everyone (at Y-Arts) is already talking about what we should do next year,” shared Mirabile.