Sam Tutty and Christiani Pitts performing during a press event for ‘Two Strangers’ on October 10, 2025 (Photo by Bruce Glikas/WireImage)
Bruce Glikas/WireImage
It could be the surprise treat of the Broadway season.
Ordinarily, industry insiders would expect a musical like Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) to topple as soon as it reaches the Great White Way. The small show is not based on a popular book or film, it stars two fresh-faced performers, its prior West End production did not recoup its initial capitalization costs, and its title is what one critic described as “chunky.” One investor in the West End production even pleaded with the producers not to bring it to Broadway.
But, in the present topsy-turvy season, Two Strangers might have a path to success.
It enters the scene when there is less competition among new musicals than there has been in many years. “There are about 10 different factors happening at the same time that are resulting in far fewer shows opening, especially new musicals, this year compared with many prior seasons,” observed Evan McGill, one of the co-producers. “We saw 42 Tony Award-eligible plays and musicals open last season, and I believe this season we will see fewer than 30, and quite possibly six or fewer new musicals,” he surmised. “Setting aside the pandemic season of 2019–2020, it would be the smallest number of new musicals to open in more than 30 years,” he continued.
In addition to arriving on Broadway in an ideal competitive landscape, it might be arriving on Broadway at an ideal cultural moment.
“There’s a sense of some kind of renaissance for New York,” commented Gareth Lake, one of the lead producers. The city “just an elected a new mayor, and it is a good time for a show that sees New York as it could be, as this amazing place,” he explained. “It is just the right time for a show like this,” Lake remarked.
Also, the costs are the right size to allow the new show to find its footing in New York.
With the average Broadway musical now capitalized at about $19.8 million, the producers of Two Strangers raised only about $8 million to bring the musical to Broadway. The two-hander looks tiny alongside other new musicals like The Queen of Versailles ($22.5 million), The Lost Boys ($25 million), Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil ($25 million), and Purple Rain ($29.5 million).
In addition, the fixed weekly operating costs of Two Strangers are estimated to be $480,577. Adjusting for inflation, the show should cost less money to run each week than any other new commercial musical on Broadway since at least the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The surprise news last month that the show could receive up to $3 million in state tax credits is icing on the cake.
However, whether or not Broadway audiences will eat it up at the box office remains to be seen. The show made $676,616 with an average ticket price of $86.50 during its first full week of performances, and the critics’ reviews published after the show opens on Thursday, November 20, will likely shape its trajectory.
The producers seem confident about its prospects. “It has got an audience, and New Yorkers really seem to have taken to it,” commented Lake. With an average user score of 91% on the audience review aggregation website Show-Score, “clearly, the word-of-mouth is working,” he stated. “You can’t fake that on Broadway,” he said with a smile.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/marchershberg/2025/11/17/two-strangers-arrives-on-broadway-in-a-perfect-storm/
