TWO STRANGERS (CARRY A CAKE ACROSS NEW YORK) Reviews — Page 6

Caught this last night via lottery win and got to see both Austin and Phoenix. My worries of missing both leads were relieved as soon as the show started. I thought both hit on all cylinders.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. The score is strong and set it used in a very creative way. I am more cold on the book. The first act was nearly perfect but act two got slow in too many places.

Not that anyone cares, but seeing both this and Lost Boys in the same day really left me wondering how Best Musical is going to play out. I had a great time at Two Strangers and certainly think the score is stronger based on first listen, but I feel like Lost Boys is achieving more overall. Not to even mention Schmigadoon that I wasn’t able to catch.

corninthesky said: "Caught this last night via lottery win and got to see both Austin and Phoenix. My worries of missing both leads were relieved as soon as the show started. I thought both hit on all cylinders.

Austin is a phenomenal talent I saw him off-Broadway in Fixing Frankie — in his blue Calvin Klein briefs— and he was amazing

Updated On: 4/9/26 at 02:09 PM

The8re phan said: "corninthesky said: "Not that anyone cares, but seeing both this and Lost Boys in the same day really left me wondering how Best Musical is going to play out. I had a great time at Two Strangers and certainly think the score is stronger based on first listen, but I feel like Lost Boys is achieving more overall. Not to even mention Schmigadoon that I wasn’t able to catch."

and let's not forget, there's is always Beaches

Hahaha. Indeed. It's between The Lost Boys and Two Strangers for me. No other show comes close in this painfully thin year for musicals. Does anyone think Queen of Versailles will even be nominated?

Enjoy it, it's such a cute show.

Glad you enjoyed it and yes, it should absolutely win Best Musical.

MadsonMelo said: "The one thing I liked about this are the two actors, Sam in particular was very charming and tried his best to bring more layers to the character, Pitts did the same and what a way she has been since King Kong.

I think I like her solos better, but the score is kinda bland as a whole.

The book works better as romance than when tries to talk about rejection, but at least they were trying... I guess?

One thing I was not in love was the direction, it felt most numbers they were either seated or walking in circles, I don't know but it was if lackedtheatricality and that ruined everything for me.

It's kinda enjoyable if you take your mind out of it, but it's not for much."

Agreed, the hype this show is getting simply astounds me it had virtually no theatricality and it just felt they walked in a circle the whole time. The plot was boring and the songs were dull for the most part but some were good. Schmigadoon and Lost Boys both had theatricality and it’s why they did so well with nominations.

ACL2006 said: "theatrekid3302 said: "MadsonMelo said: "The one thing I liked about this are the two actors, Sam in particular was very charming and tried his best to bring more layers to the character, Pitts did the same and what a way she has been since King Kong.

I think I like her solos better, but the score is kinda bland as a whole.

The book works better as romance than when tries to talk about rejection, but at least they were trying... I guess?

One thing I was not in love was the direction, it felt most numbers they were either seated or walking in circles, I don't know but it was if lackedtheatricality and that ruined everything for me.

It's kinda enjoyable if you take your mind out of it, but it's not for much."

Agreed, the hype this show is getting simply astounds me it had virtually no theatricality and it just felt they walked in a circle the whole time. The plot was boring and the songs were dull for the most part but some were good. Schmigadoon and Lost Boys both had theatricality and it’s why they did so well with nominations."

You're the ultimate definition of what a dolt is. Your single digit IQ gives you no theatrical merit on anything."

How do you know what my IQ is? I have more theatrical merit than you will ever have your lack of taste in musical theatre astounds me. The amount of people on this thread that celebrate absolute trash astounds me. This is why everyone hates the Tonys. If you look at the “best musicals” in the past couple of years besides the outsiders, moulin rouge, and hadestown have probably been the worst pieces of musical theatre to have ever been created Bands Visit, STRANGE LOOP (probably the worst of them all what an embarrassment that winning was), Kimberly Akimbo (extremely mediocre), Maybe Happy Ending. You want to call me low iq for speaking the truth about the downfall of Broadway so be it. To go from Les Mis, Phantom, Miss Saigon to this trash is something. When will we ever have a new musical of that caliber on Broadway? Would it even win Best Musical considering that most of the “insiders” on this thread love the downfall of the arts?


The point is, The Lost Boys is such a breath of fresh air to have a musical filled with spectacle and powerful vocals has been sorely missed because most shows aim to cut down costs with cheap looking sets or NO SET AT ALL and raise ticket prices. This site is so out of touch with AMERICA and what people want when they come to theater. What AVERAGE AMERICAN wants to spend $200 on a show about carrying a cake across New York and them walking in a circle the whole time and the whole set is a bunch of suitcases. People want theatricality and pizzazz. You live in a bubble and that bubble needs to be popped. Why is Broadway going downhill? It’s not because of Covid the same lame excuse for every ailing problem in society it’s because ticket prices are going way up and show quality is going way down THATS WHY.

TheatreMonkey said: "As we say in the South, bless your heart.

Obviously, you place more on sets and bombast than others do -- and that's OK. But you also have to accept that many, many others place more import on a well-written book, solid songwriting, and a cohesive whole than just ...sets. That's not the "downfall of theatre", it's personal taste (which may not be aligned with your own.)"

Two Strangers is not a well-written book, the songs with a few exceptions are not “solid songwriting”. It’s boring and unengaging. I actually place a huge emphasis on a well written book and great songs that is the core of the show. We particularly have seen less and less shows that have “solid songwriting” We don’t get big epic scores like Les Mis an Miss Saigon anymore because the mega musical is dying and that is a terrible thing. You know when I was At Schmigadoon it was nice to see a tap number I thought to myself “wow when was the last time I saw that” it’s sad most shows now have barely any choreography, barely any set, terrible music. It was nice to have a tap number.

On what planet is Maybe Happy Ending ‘mediocre’? Also- it has a stunning set.

EDSOSLO858 said: "As expected, national tour just announced to launch fall 2027 from Providence.

Each of this year'snominees for best musical are hitting the touring circuit in 2027-28."

With a low cost overhead and widespread appeal, this is going to do gangbusters on the road

theatrekid3302 said: "the past couple of years have probably been the worst pieces of musical theatre to have ever been created Bands Visit, STRANGE LOOP (probably the worst of them all what an embarrassment that winning was)"

F*ck it, I’ll bite.

Who do you sincerely think should have won the Tony for Best Musical that year? Paradise Square? Mr. Saturday Night? Girl From North Country?

I think this takes Score and that's it.

Finally caught this one last night. There's no lack of talent on that stage but I found the staging very boring. Maybe I'm just tired of turntables. The audience seemed to really enjoy the humor in the book though and there was a lot of love in the house for both actors. All in all, it wasn't for me, but there's definitely an audience and it's not a bad show by any means. I'm curious what the response will be on tour, especially if it hits larger houses with this design.