'Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)' Broadway review — a sweet love letter to rom-coms and NYC

Read our review of Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) on Broadway, a new musical comedy now at the Longacre Theatre after three acclaimed U.K. runs.

Summary

• Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) is a charming two-hander rom-com about wedding guests who go on an NYC adventure
• The show is recommended for fans of romantic films and Broadway musicals like Maybe Happy Ending
• Audiences have praised the show’s sweet and feel-good nature

When Dougal (Sam Tutty) and Robin (Christiani Pitts) collide at the airport, of course they’re off to a rocky start as the titular pair in the musical comedy Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York). For a cynic, this meet-cute is formulaic. For an optimist, this is a rom-com recipe where familiarity is a feature, not a flaw. Directed and choreographed by Tim Jackson at the Longacre Theatre, Two Strangers is like a warm hot chocolate as respite from the snow.

Clutching an invitation to the wedding of his long-lost father, 20something Englishman Dougal arrives belting the opening number, “New York,” and dragging a suitcase full of dreams. His infectious ode does not impress Robin, the 27-year-old jaded barista who's soon to be his aunt-in-law. When the unseen bride, Robin’s sister, tasks her with picking up a $2,000 four-layer wedding cake, Dougal offers to help — and thus their trek across New York begins, and a spark of connection becomes inevitable.

Two Strangers could have sunk into treacly territory, but it stays afloat on a banter-filled book and twinkling contemporary score by Jim Barne and Kit Buchan. While the lyrics aren't groundbreaking, the sonorous ballads play to the stratosphere even when patter songs register as clunky. In less competent hands, this modest musical (one that could play well in smaller theatres) would drag at two hours, but luckily, Two Strangers intersperses its reveals with stirring emotion and rich humor.

Tutty (who wears his role like muscle memory, having originated it in London) and Pitts flex their chemistry as scene partners: Dougal is an animated, British chatterbox who views the Big Apple through a lens of pop culture, while she’s the exhausted New York native who rolls her eyes at his touristy prattling. Their adventure involves Tinder matchmaking, nods to rom-com tropes, some verbal and physical stumbles, and a spending spree with a borrowed American Express. The writers get plenty of mileage from quips about the taboo that the pair are soon to be in-laws.

Both characters are also cast-asides: We grasp that about Dougal early on, while Robin’s story is seeded over the course of their New York adventure. In Pitts’s expressions, we suspect buried reasons why she is reluctant to attend her sister’s wedding and yet performs multiple stressful favors for her. She knows she’s being used beyond her limit.

Whirling on a turntable, Soutra Gilmour’s abstract set — two climbable piles of silver luggage — is both functional and a metaphor for the pair's personal baggage, but it ends up being more confining than liberating. (Gilmour has achieved more with less, like with her majestic tunnel-to-the-abyss in the current Waiting For Godot Broadway revival.) Even so, the visual is stunning as Dougal and Robin climb and cling to their respective towers, pining to bridge the distance between them. Their burgeoning bond is constantly on the brink of will-they-or-won’t-they. The show's conclusion doesn’t tidy up the characters' problems, but it leaves hope for their future.

Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) summary

A transfer from London's West End, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) starts when Robin, a New York barista, picks up her English nephew-in-law-to-be, Dougal, at the airport. He’s excited to see the groom, his estranged father, while Robin appears to nurse bitterness over her older sister, the bride. When Dougal tags along on Robin’s quest to pick up and deliver the wedding cake, their journey unfolds with mishaps, connection, and secrets.

What to expect at Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) had quite the reactive audience on my night, with roars of laughter that may be the forecast for many performances. Also in the forecast is a stage brimming with snowfall in an Act 2 scene of an emotional release. Jackson’s choreography is buoyant across the spinning turntable.

Jack Knowles’s lighting design loads Gilmour’s luggage set with LED lighting to convey the whimsy of New York. The suitcases’ secret compartments assist in setting the scene, opening up to reveal closets, a hotel fridge, or a crimson restaurant backdrop. Gilmour also designed the vibrant costumes, a standout being the bright pink pieces in Robin’s wardrobe.

What audiences are saying about Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

The review aggregator Show-Score currently has a 90% audience approval score based on 115 reviews from theatregoers, who largely praised the musical's feel-good nature.

• "It's the sweet, cute and cuddly rom-com musical that Broadway needed this season [...] So ok, the story is formulaic and predictable, the whole thing tries too hard to be feel-good, and the suitcase-filled staging has its surprises but is a bit of a letdown. However, it's all infectiously lovable and you will leave the theater with a smile." - Show-Score user GreatAvi
• "It's not going to cure the world's problems but sometimes you just want a show that looks cute and makes you smile." - Show-Score user Rachel 4262
• “I enjoyed it! It had that really nice British rom-comedy film [feel], where it never forgot it was a comedy despite exploring mommy, daddy, sibling issues. I also liked that the songs weren't all traditional musical theatre songs. They played with genres. And also the songs were sometimes just talking rather than deep; I want more plot-forward songs. Actors were talented and had good chemistry. I like how active the audience is.” - My +1 at the show

Read more audience reviews of Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) on Show-Score.

Who should see Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

• Fans of romance movies, animes, or musicals — like Maybe Happy Ending or Reunions — will savor this slice-of-life musical's rom-com tropes.
• New Yorkers will chuckle at Dougal’s touristy infatuation with the city, contrasted with Robin’s jaded bemusement.
• Fans of King Kong on Broadway will be happy to see its star Christiani Pitts again in her musical element, especially in her “This Year” number.

Learn more about Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) on Broadway

Christiani Pitts and Sam Tutty propel Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)'s contemporary score to the snow-filled skies. This musical is a love letter to the spontaneous connection people can find in New York City.

Learn more and get Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) tickets on New York Theatre Guide. Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) is at the Longacre Theatre.

Photo credit: Sam Tutty and Christiani Pitts in Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) on Broadway. (Photos by )