Randy of Blueberry, the musical

So Wild Blueberry Festival is upon us, and the whole entire town of Machias seems to have transformed into a whole different place! It is awesome. There are welcomed practical differences....like the makeup of the town looks and speaks differently, but there is also an air of celebration, positivity, and excitement in the air! Yesterday driving around after work and running to things helped me realize...there truly are going to be 15,000 people extra in this town this weekend (to give you perspective, this town only has about 3,000 to begin with....)

Anyway, without further ado, I'd like to offer some snippets from the musical last night "Randy of Blueberry". The musicals historical are always written by a local person and are based off of other musicals or common music that people understand, and tell a story of life in Machias or Washington County, or Downeast in general. With things being so rough to begin with historically economically in Washington County, the last year has been particularly hard here...and it shows at every turn. This is a poor town, and a poor county. The musical this year was based around a large blueberry processing factory (owned by descendants of Jeremiah O'Brien himself) owing back taxes to the town. Think Andy Griffith....this was the basis of the musical. However, that is not where it ends! It was really well crafted, because there were tons of current events in it, including Sarah Palin "becoming available" to be the new mayor of Blueberry! HA!

Enjoy the clips!

This is the infamous Gene Nichols, who I finally got to meet the other day (subsequently, I have already been invited to ukelele club so I can learn how to play!!!)


It is helpful to turn up the sound as much as you can, as this one has great Sarah Palin dialogue:


YMCA!


The general theme of living in Downeast Maine:


Getting serious, Rent style:


The BEST part of the musical!


Dad, this one is for you!!!


All the church sings along (we got programs with the words and it was in this weeks paper so people could learn the words):


More Blueberry fun to come!!!