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Never thought you’d see those two words anywhere near each other again and yet still it’s true. There are, believe it or not, things your trusty reviewer has yet to experience! The New York Musical Theatre Festival can now be lovingly crossed off that list. I must say, I am immediately struck by the sheer polish, professionalism and production values I have witnessed thus far at the four shows I have attended. I somehow didn’t realize they would be this fully realized. For those not in the know, these are full on,  (mostly) ready for their close-up, new works of my favorite brand of entertainment.

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Strange --- not weird "strange," but interesting "strange"--- how this week (October 7, 8, 9) cabaret components change sizes but stay basically the same, the way Alice did in Wonderland.  Conventional wisdom about intimate performing defies convention at the Cabaret Convention.  The small, intimate cabaret room with the performer just a few feet away from a smallish number of people becomes the big stage at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Hall (sometimes called the Rose Theatre, but a Rose by any other name would sound as acoustically sweet).  And hundreds of people are in the audience in this venue which ain't no sardine can by any means, and the stage is nice and big and raised (so are hopes).  But somehow, it works surprisingly well from farther away, but it still has that close-up cabaret magic.  Why?  It doesn't take the cabaret-watcher equivalent of an Einstein to tell you. 

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Packed with paint brushes and passion of a kind and "poor me!" songs and "Look at me!" songs aplenty, POPart has popped up as part of the Festival, with remaining performances October 10 and 11.  The location is ATA, a theatre on 54th Street steps away from the police station, the site of Studio 54 (now a theatre) and The Iguana,  and it shares its building with a community court.  My verdict on POPart is that it has some interesting ideas and talented performers, but the jury is still out on whether it can become an accessible, cohesive and commercially successful musical about non-commercialism. .

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What's worse than kids on stage singing?  If you answered kids on stage singing and dancing, then Show Choir! - The Musical may not be the NYMF pick for you.  For everyone else, this jazz-handed, fever dream might just be the only thing that can get you out of the house on a Tuesday night. The musical charts the rise and fall of Jake Jonathan, whose mother calls him "my own little Liberace," and whose Tipton Valley High show choir, The Symphonic Sensations, goes from rags to riches and back again.  A show choir -- for those of us whose primary education did not include reading, writing and rondo -- is a mash-up of choral recitation and good, old-fashioned razzmatazz.  It's like the "Glee" bus collided with the High School Musical bus (if only).

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The working class rises up in unusual ways, evolving from a group of uneducated miners who just want to knaa what’s gannin’ on, into an exceptionally creative group of artists.  Inspired by a book written by William Feaver, The Pitmen Painters tells the true story of five coal miners from Ashington, a small town in Northern England, whose lives and awareness change dramatically after signing up for an art appreciation class in 1934, sponsored by their Workers Educational Association.

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All short runs!  All musicals!  All singing!  Some dancing!  Some great!  Some not so much.  The early-autumn theatre festival of musicals is here.  Many of the musicals are new, others not so much.  It's NYMF. As in past years, I have some very varied reactions about whether or not to recommend what I've seen, so the abbreviation NYMF for me stands for:  No/Yes/ Maybe/Fuhgettaboutit.  Of course, it really is short for New York Musical (Theatre) Festival.  My first shows seen are I Got Fired (a "Yes") and the others are less "Yes."

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“For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, ‘It might have been’."  Singer/songwriter Ned Massey’s autobiographical musical, Bloodties, currently running as part of the 2010 New York Musical Theatre Festival, is a good illustration of both the veracity and timelessness of 19^th century American poet John Greenleaf Whittier’s observation. Fresh out of college, Massey was discovered by legendary music industry producer and talent scout John Hammond, who described him as "the finest talent since Dylan and Springsteen."

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No matter who central character Leah's audience is ---  a therapist, someone else in her life, or us, the actual audience watching the musical Therapy Rocks --- her tone is similar. Concerning her problems, she whines and wails and fails at relationships with males.  She's sarcastic and snippy to her supportive best friend --- one she dumps on and then dumps after a seemingly small tiff.  She's picky about men and feels picked on while she picks on others and thinks maybe she should pick a therapist because, hey, he's cute.  Oh, yes, she's also a bit mean to her mom on the phone.  And she means to move on, but still thinks every day about her old boyfriend who left her over a decade ago.

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Better late than never, I suppose, as I am just a tad tardy in reporting on the final three Fringe Festival entries I was assigned. But life being what it is, the unexpected can throw you way off course and…oh, who cares?...on with the shows! These three that I have thrown together here are all musicals (sort of) and had wildly divergent approaches and levels of success. Indeed, thrown together might well describe one of the shows and a couple approached what might be referred to as the better never category! Gratefully, one was a true, qualified success, so let’s begin there.