Two Strangers Carrying A Cake Across New York (4*)

 

"Two Strangers" felt like a homecoming, not only because I returned to Broadway after a four-month absence but because the show thrillingly celebrates what it feels like to fall in love with New York City for the first time.  

I'd wanted to see it before departing for Florida but the wait afforded me the opportunity to familiarize myself with cast recordings from both sides of the pond.  Chiffon immediately added three songs to his 2025 playlist, an unusually high number for a single score. With New York, the opening number, two songwriting teams--Comden and Green, and Kander and Ebb--finally have some 21st century competition; it impresses as much with its savvy movie allusions, including Midnight Cowboy ("I'm walkin' here"), as its unbridled, infectious enthusiasm. What'll It Be cleverly captures the directionless yearning of a barista and He Doesn't Exist tenderly warns how a son's desire for a relationship with an absent father can mask can mask the reality of the situation.

Christiani Pitts as Robin, a no-nonsense native New Yorker, and Sam Tutty as Dougal, in town from London for his father's nuptials to Robin's sister, command the revolving luggage carousel stage set with chemistry, charm and talent galore for just over two hours, to say nothing of a very visible band that seems never to take a breath.  Tutty, IMHO, has the slightly heavier lift because both his cockiness and looks bear a slight resemblance to the current occupant of the White House as a young man. Let's hope Tutty's preternatural bravado--which should certainly earn him a Tony Award nomination--doesn't age into insane megalomania.

The book, unfortunately, is more-than-occasionally farfetched, especially in terms of the revelations that drive it.  Jim Barne and Kit Buchan develop the personalities and motivations of Robin and Dougal much better than they do the mechanics of a rom com that sometimes doesn't make a lot of sense. This also explains why the original cast recordings left me clueless about the action on stage.

In the end, however, it doesn't matter.  Two Strangers Carrying A Cake Across New York is an utterly delicious romp that delivers laughter, goosebumps and tears in equal measure.