Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

Musical (2019)
by Jim Barne and Kit Buchan
Directed and Choreographed by Tim Jackson
A Kiln Theatre Production
American Repertory Theater
May 20 – July 13, 2025

Scenic and Costume Design: Soutra Gilmour; Lighting Design: Jack Knowles; Sound Design: Tony Gayle, Cody Spencer; Hair, Wig, Make-up Design: Earon Chew Nealey; Orchestrations: Lux Pyramid; Music Supervisor: Nick Finlow; Associate Music Supervisor: Benedict Braxton-Smith; Music Director: Jeffrey Campos

With Christiani Pitts (Robin), Sam Tutty (Dougal)

Robin (Christiani Pitts) is waiting at the airport to pick up Dougal (Sam Tutty) whom she does not know but who is coming from England to attend Robin’s sister’s wedding. Dougal is the son of the much older man that Dougal’s sister is marrying, but he has, to say the least, an estranged relationship with his father, who lives in New York, and is looking forward to the wedding as an opportunity to connect with him. Robin has been commissioned by her sister, whose wedding is the following day, to pick up the wedding cake in Brooklyn and bring it back to her sister’s apartment in Manhattan. Though Robin does not encourage Dougal to accompany her, he is enthusiastic and she relents, and so they embark on the journey to Brooklyn. The trip is not simple and straightforward, and, along with a lot of hilarious back and forth, there is a mishap with the cake. Eventually this leads to Robin and Dougal having an adventure together and the revelation on both sides of what the relations with their family members entail.

This beautifully written and produced musical has so much fast talking, both in dialogue and in song, that it is sometimes hard to keep up, but, if one does, the result is hilarity. Though not written in pseudo-rap as is Hamilton, the contemporary musical which clearly wins the award for recent most articulate and clever lyrics per square bar of musical theater, this show does a similar kind of packing in of words and wit without the rap but with a good deal of patter that makes for high speed entertainment. Th opening number, New York has a lot of this kind of pizzazz.

The show is also movingly written, and some of its songs steer away from the high speed wit to deliver quite clearly felt sentiments, articulated nicely and framed in appealing musical form. Dad, offered by Dougal, is a lovely, touching song of this sort.

The two actors in the show are spectacular. Sam Tutty, as Dougal, has an energetic optimism fused with an appealing naivete that sits opposite to Robin’s dark, sharp and suspicious self. But, as Dougal puts it at one point, Robin is not as cold as you think you are and the premise of the show is that the meeting of these two clearly opposed types can produce interesting results. Each of these actors carry their weight admirably well in the continual exchange of barbs, and in lovely vocal work. Tutty has an innocent and appealingly unvarnished vocal style that suits his character well. He hits all the notes nicely but one sees and hears him as an ordinary guy singing about his hopes and his challenges rather than a highly trained vocalist singing perhaps a little too beautifully about the sentiments of an ordinary guy. It’s a wonderfully appealing performance. Christiani Pitts, as Robin, has a real edge which gives depth to the drama and which makes the coming together of these two characters so unexpected. Pitts’ voice is a little more amped up, but she too gives the welcome impression of the cafe worker, which she plays, rising to the occasion of song in a down to earth way.

The staging is generally interesting, with a rotating stage that enables the characters to walk against its rotation and give the impression of strolling the city streets. There is, at the center of this rotating platform, a construction of hard shell suitcases, presumably hitting off the theme of Dougal arriving from England on a short trip to New York and all that distance, travel and crossing great personal and metaphorical distances implies. There is some compelling lighting involving neon around these suitcases, some artfully aimed spots from above the stage, and some intermittent accessory lights, like a traffic light that drops down from above. When the characters at one point in their odyssey wind up in a dance hall, there is a rotating globe mirror light that casts a swirling pattern around the theater.

Other fun staging things happen, like when Dougal comes by a dress suit and it magically appears when he rips off his more ordinary clothes and a jacket drops down from above. Very amusingly done.

As is sometimes the case with ART productions, the technical stagecraft gets a little overdone, which occasionally happens here. This two person show is essentially modest in scope and some of the more elaborate gimmicks seem a bit over the top, but the show is so good overall that one need not regard that as much of an impediment.

The band, which sits over and above in the back, plays very well. Occasionally it gets a bit loud and brash, but basically it does the job beautifully.

The plot, though simple, is affecting, largely due to the wonderful and witty lines and lyrics and the heartfelt songs and the great performances by both actors. There are a few gotchas in the narrative, but those can only be discussed with spoilers, done below. But, even with those limitations, the show is so well written and well done that it’s a truly fulfilling pleasure.

– BADMan (aka Charles Munitz)