Welcome to 1952 New York City, where men wear hats, commies are red and the only way to get dirt on your favorite celebrity is to overhear a private conversation on the subway. Until Big Bob Harrison comes along.

When we first meet Harrison (Kevin Spirtas) in Samuel Bernstein's Mr. Confidential, he's an honest but ambitious businessman taking photos of his gal Jeannie (Amy Bodnar) for one of his six flailing pinup publications. On his staff is his matronly sister Edith (Jane Blass), eager nephew Michael (James LaRossa) and niece Marjorie (Erin Leigh Peck). Despite their semi-lewd magazine, they're just a family business, they assure the audience. Just trying to make a living in a tough city.

But when the girly rags are forced to close, Harrison strikes up a plan to open a gossip magazine, the likes of which no one has ever seen, telling the facts and naming the names. Harrison enlists the help of DC elite Howard Rushmore to contribute the chunk of communist stories, but soon the magazine is focusing solely on the sordid sex lives of Hollywood stars, much to the chagrin of Rushmore. As the public's thirst for celebrity gossip grows, so does Harrison's dream of himself being the center of attention. As his family becomes more entrenched in the world of fame, fortune and fibs, it gets harder to extract the fact from the fiction.

Spirtas plays a sleek but utterly likeable Harrison. Rushmore is a fascinating villain. Both serve up real powerhouse voices in their songs but it is the female characters which portray more complex characters, as well as providing the bulk of the humor in the show. Bodnar is exquisite as the ditzy blonde with a heart of gold and Ellen Greene squeak. Peck's Marjorie is just as ambitious as her scheming uncle but trapped in a role of wife and mother which she desperately tries to escape. And Alena Watters is fantastic as the cloak and dagger informant who is never without over-sized sunglasses, head scarf and thick accent.

Director Stephan Nachamie, along with music director Kevin Cole and writer Samuel Bernstein have put together a winning cast with big Broadway songs to create a funny yet incredibly interesting tale of life before TMZ, and a look into the tale of the real life Mr. Confidential.

Mr. Confidential is playing at the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theater as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival through July 27th. More more reviews of NYMF productions, click here.