There is something New Yorkers love and hate about people who come to the city for the first time. We love them because they remind us of how exciting New York City really is to newcomers—all of the sites and sounds they’ve seen in their social media feeds, in movies and books, and the stories of their friends and relatives: it is all suddenly real and tangible and beyond exciting. You see it in their eyes. It’s a different world, full of wonderful possibilities.
But the part New Yorkers hate about newcomers is, well, how new they are. New York City isn’t some massive miraculous Chia Pet that grew buildings, restaurants, and Broadway theaters because the rain here is super magical. New York City is the result of generation after generation of countless souls grinding out their existences here despite the crushing unaffordability of everything from potato chips and apartments to yoga classes and eye drops. Everything. Is. Nightmarishly. Expensive. New Yorkers feel that if you’re not part of the grind, you only get about 30 minutes to say how awesome everything is. Which it is. We know that. Which is why we live here.
For me, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) hilariously and poignantly explores the dynamic between new-to-New York and born-in-New York characters. The story, actors, and songs offer unique portrayal of a nuanced relationship that feels familiar to anyone who has ever stood on a subway platform and debated if they should help a tourist or just keep their headphones on. The chemistry between Robin (Christiani Pitts) and Dougal (Sam Tutty) is hysterical, endearing, and so, so creatively relevant to anyone who has every searched for their place in the world. The relationship could only be forged in the mind of a talented writers—Jim Barne (music) and Kit Buchan (book)—and only made believable by actors who brought a humanity to characters so vastly different from each other.
The Plot: A Musical Ride of Different Perspectives
The plot is deceptively simple, which is exactly why it works. Dougal, a relentlessly optimistic Brit, flies into JFK for the wedding of his estranged father—a man he’s never met. Waiting for him at the airport is Robin, the sister of the bride-to-be. Robin is a native New Yorker who is perpetually tired, overworked, and currently tasked with hauling a cumbersome wedding cake across the five boroughs.
What follows is a 24-hour whirlwind through the city as seen by two very different souls. But, thankfully, this isn’t the “Disney-fied” version of NYC. This is the city of expensive coffee, existential questions, awkward family dynamics, and the constant pressure to “make it.” I always say that no one moves to New York City to half-ass their life. This place is for dreamers. And being born here isn’t like being born anywhere else in the world. New York City comes with name and brand recognition. Like it or not, there are expectations. As these two characters navigate the logistics and the physical burden of transporting the wedding cake, they peel back the emotional layers of their own incomplete lives. Dougal sees the city as a glorious movie set where dreams come true; Robin sees it as a familiar maze of neighborhoods where her dreams went to die—or at least where they’ve been deferred by a her pedestrian job at a local coffee shop, Bump ’n’ Grind.
The Characters: The Forced Optimist and the Urban Realist
Sam Tutty is just brilliant—both the American and British meaning—as Dougal. He captures that wide-eyed, puppy-dog energy of a newcomer without making the character feel like a caricature. He’s the guy who thinks a $15 hot dog is an “experience” and that everyone in New York is just a friend he hasn’t met yet. But Tutty adds a layer of vulnerability to Dougal; his optimism is a shield against the rejection of a father who didn’t want him. This character will break your heart. So prepare yourself.
Christiani Pitts is the perfect foil as Robin. She represents the “grind” (mentioned earlier) that shapes the people of New York City. She’s the New Yorker we all identify with—the one who knows the fastest way to get from A to B but is too exhausted to enjoy the view. The one who avoids entire neighborhoods for personal reasons. The one who needs to be surrounded by 8.5 million strangers so our bad decisions get obscured by the noise. Pitts brings a grounded, soulful grit to the role. When she sings, you feel the weight of the rent, the humidity, and the disappointment of expectations that have not been realized and feel increasingly out of reach.
But the real magic happens when these two flawed characters collide. Their banter is fast-paced and sharp, reflecting the rhythm of the city itself. They don’t just fall in love in a cliché “rom-com” way; they influence each other. Dougal teaches Robin how to actually see the city again, and Robin teaches Dougal that life isn’t always a musical number with a happy ending. Remember when I said a paragraph ago that Dougal would break your heart? I wasn’t kidding.
What Else Bros Will Like About Two Strangers
Sometimes Broadway shows can feel a bit too polished, too on point, or too manicured both in plot and character to feel real. Life, after all, is messy. Especially in New York City. So if a show about living here feels a bit too detached from the reality of living in a 475-square-foot apartment with a struggling middle-aged puppeteer, a stoner nepo baby with a Hamburgler tattoo, and an adopted cross-eyed cat named Tribeca, well, then, no New Yorker will find it real or relatable. Two Strangers avoids this trap. It’s a two-hander that feels massive because it leans into the emotional stakes.
Okay, now for the music. The songwriting by Jim Barne and Kit Buchan is catchy, contemporary, and clever. It doesn’t rely on old-school showtune tropes. The songs land like the kind of music you’d actually listen to while walking through Brooklyn. The staging featuring stacked suitcases is minimalist but effective both symbolically and practically, using the cake—a literal and metaphorical burden—as the centerpiece of their journey.
From a “Broadway for Bros” perspective, this show is a winner because it’s relatable in all the ways that allow flawed people to see themselves in the characters and yet maintain their peace of mind knowing that they’re watching art and a not a retelling of their darkest and dumbest mistakes. It’s also about hustle, the most New York thing about New Yorkers. It’s about being a man trying to find his place in a world where his father is an intentional stranger. It’s about being a woman trying to find her place in a city that pits everyone against each other while demanding they connect to survive. It’s about the friendship that forms when you’re forced to help someone carry something heavy—both a cake and their emotional baggage. The journey we’re all on in one form or another.
Final Verdict
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) is a love letter to the city, but it’s one written in the margins of a Con Edison utility bill that was due two months ago. It acknowledges the newcomers’ fantasy while honoring the grind that compels dentist across NYC to plead with us to stop grinding our teeth. It reminds us that while the potato chips are overpriced and the cost of a meditation class is why we need meditation, the connections we make in the chaos are what make the struggle worth it.
If you’ve ever been the newcomer with stars in your eyes, or the local who just wants the tourist to take off their backpack and move out of the way of the subway doors, this show is for you. It’s a tight, funny, and deeply moving piece of theater that proves you don’t need a cast of fifty to tell a story as big as New York.
Go see it. And maybe buy a New Yorker a coffee afterward. We’re tired.
See you under the marquee. – Jim Thompson