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Two Strangers

Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York)

★★★★★

Kiln Theatre

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TWO STRANGERS (CARRY A CAKE ACROSS NEW YORK) at the Kiln Theatre

★★★★★

Two Strangers

“Tim Jackson’s lively production never misses a beat, played out on a revolve that circles Soutra Gilmour’s ingenious set”

Given a limited amount of time, would you rather spend it with someone you’ve never met or with someone you may never meet again?

One of the many questions thrown into the air in the captivating new musical, “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)”. Dougal (Sam Tutty) is in New York for a whirlwind thirty-six hours. He has arrived for the wedding of his father who abandoned him before he was born. The excitement at the invitation is matched by his puppyish elation at being in The Big Apple. Meeting him at the airport is Robin (Dujonna Gift), the sister of the bride. Her cynicism is as great as his enthusiasm. Do opposites attract? Well – not at first. We might think we are in familiar Romcom territory, but there is plenty of rug-pulling that makes us think again.

Dougal lives in a movie, reliving the technicolour hopes and dreams that spill from the silver screen. ‘Do you know what we’d do now if we were in a movie?’ is his catchphrase. Robin lives in the real world, vaguely haunted by the ghosts of past, present and future. They clash, but with sparks hot enough to weld them together – yet Jim Barne’s and Kit Buchan’s writing is too complex to ensure the customary happy ending, and I’m not about to tell you either.

The opening number; ‘New York!’ is a crowd-pleasing overture, instantly putting a stamp on the two personalities. Sam Tutty’s Dougal is intensely irritating but insanely vulnerable and gorgeous. Tutty can cast a laugh-out-loud one-liner and wrap it around a tear-jerking anecdote with worldly skill. His brash, ingenuous shell is dangerously fragile. Dujonna Gift, as Robin, is the antithesis of the American Dream, and cannot seem to shake off her current nightmare that has arrived in the form of her prospective nephew-in-law.

“For a musical, there is more than enough script, which gives the two actors plenty to chew on, and reveal their formidable acting skills”

They bond, reluctantly, over Robin’s Tinder App during the sensational, staccato musical number, ‘On the App’, which showcases the clever lyrics that run throughout the show. Like many of the songs it is almost rhapsodic in nature, blending styles like a confectioner would concoct the most delicious flavours. Jim Barne’s score cannot be separated from the book and lyrics (credited to both Kit Buchan, and Barne). They brilliantly mix the old and the new, the traditional and the urban, classic and modern, the sweet and the sour. ‘Under the Mistletoe’ is a gorgeous parody of the seasonal hit that we all pretend to frown upon yet secretly love. It rises above pastiche though, sending up its source with a glowing affection that will ensure the song’s place in everyone’s festive playlist.

There are too many standout numbers. ‘The Argument’, sparse and rhythmic, delivered with precision timing by Gift and Tutty is both timeless and progressive, blurred by the doubt and confusion of too much liquor yet with a sharpness that cuts open a bitter and heartrending reveal. It is the performances of Tutty and Gift that propel the show as much as the score. For a musical, there is more than enough script, which gives the two actors plenty to chew on, and reveal their formidable acting skills. Their range, which can rake up many emotions, matches their vocal versatility. Through them, too, we get a three-dimensional portrayal of the off-stage characters and a glorious insight into the relationships.

Tim Jackson’s lively production never misses a beat, played out on a revolve that circles Soutra Gilmour’s ingenious set of piles of greyed-out suitcases that open and close to reveal the various locations, props, and the surprises and secrets of our protagonists. These characters have many shades, reflected and amplified by Jack Knowles’ moody, sensitive and innovative lighting.

“Two Strangers…” is the perfect Christmas tale. Part dream. Part movie. Part fairy-tale. And, of course, the obligatory snowfall during its finale. The opening number, ‘New York!’, is reprised, shifting from the major to the minor. Tender, plaintive and haunting now, but with a rising crescendo that reassures us all. We have cried. But we have laughed too. Hope springs eternal.


TWO STRANGERS (CARRY A CAKE ACROSS NEW YORK) at the Kiln Theatre

Reviewed on 16th November 2023

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Marc Brenner

 

 

 

More recent reviews from Jonathan:

Treason The Musical | ★★★ | Alexandra Palace | November 2023
Backstairs Billy | ★★★★ | Duke of York’s Theatre | November 2023
Porno | ★★★ | Arts Theatre | November 2023
The Time Traveller’s Wife | ★★★ | Apollo Theatre | November 2023
Lizzie | ★★★ | Southwark Playhouse Elephant | November 2023
The Ocean At The End Of The Lane | ★★★★★ | Noël Coward Theatre | October 2023
An Evening Of Burlesque | ★★★★ | Adelphi Theatre | October 2023
Othello | ★★★★ | Riverside Studios | October 2023
Flowers For Mrs Harris | ★★★★ | Riverside Studios | October 2023
Shooting Hedda Gabler | ★★★★ | Rose Theatre Kingston | October 2023
Trompe L’Oeil | ★★★ | The Other Palace | September 2023
Close Up – The Twiggy Musical | ★★★ | Menier Chocolate Factory | September 2023

Two Strangers

Two Strangers

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Radio Gaga

Radio Gaga

★★★★

Adelphi Theatre

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RADIO GAGA at the Adelphi Theatre

★★★★

Radio Gaga

“Mark Sanders, in the mantle of Freddie Mercury, knows how to get the audience on his side”

The test of a tribute act is to close your eyes and see if, in your head, it’s the real thing. I don’t get this from “Radio Gaga”. There’s something missing.


I miss the exquisite power and the soaring fragility of Freddie Mercury’s inimitable voice. I miss Freddie’s virtuosity at the piano. I miss the tear-wringing poignancy of the ballads. I miss Bowie’s contribution to the familiar and famous duet, ‘Under Pressure’. I miss the falsetto, the mastery of his stagecraft. His personality.

I’m missing a lot. But (and it is a big ‘but’) I’m missing the point. The crammed audience that fills the West End auditorium have no such qualms. I’m beginning to feel like a killjoy. A nit-picking one at that. I need to shed the grand, proscenium-arched sensibilities, and reimagine the context. To join in with the hand waving, the swaying, and the handclapping. To give an animated response to the repeated questions from the lead singer concerning our health (yes – I am feeling good… how many times?). There are an awful lot of call and response ‘yeah-yeahs’, that by the third number in we are beginning to feel “Under Pressure” to have a good time.

Which is, essentially, what this show is all about. The hits are all there, proficiently performed. ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ comes fairly early on in the proceedings, but already the crowd have no inclination to anyway. Mark Sanders, in the mantle of Freddie Mercury, knows how to get the audience on his side. It didn’t matter that the entire set list needed to be transposed quite a few semitones for Sanders’ voice (okay – a little bit of a white lie. It mattered to me but, as I’ve said, I’m the stick-in-the-mud exception here). When the guys on stage are enjoying themselves, inevitably the groundlings will too. I was up in the Gods, but closer up I guess we could have seen the tongue in Sanders’ cheek. There are no pretentions. After introducing the band, he turned on himself in a lovely moment of irony by referencing his uncanny resemblance to Basil Fawlty.

The band are tremendous, though inevitably more generic and lacking the individualism of the original (here we go – nit-picking again). Richard Ashford, in Brian May’s shoes (white trainers obviously) gave his fretboard a run for its money. Perhaps May has copyrighted his specific sound and Ashford isn’t allowed to replicate it too closely, but the technique is still a close match. Throughout, Sanders seemed to be signalling to the sound crew to up Ashford’s sound level, and that of keyboard player Ben Parkinson; whose flourishes were often missed.

Completing the line up are Michael “Roger Taylor” Richards on drums and Jon “John Deacon” Caulton on bass: the backbone driving the hits that roll out. ‘Somebody to Love’, ‘Another One Bites the Dust’, ‘Killer Queen’, ‘Seven Seas of Rye’, ‘I Want to Break Free’ (complete with vacuum cleaner and comic drag), ‘It’s a Kind of Magic’, ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, ‘The Show Must Go On’… you name it. And a few lesser-known numbers as well. Of course, the climax is ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ which unfortunately showcased Sanders’ vocal limitations. He let the audience do most of the work. But, again, I seem to be the only one who cares. The band wandered off mid song (not even Queen attempted this live, so fair do’s) to let the operatic section play out on a backing track. They returned to launch back into the finale, albeit on the (very) offbeat.

‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are the Champions’ comprised the encore. During the latter, Sanders dons a crown. The audience’s unanimous verdict is that he has earned it. Freddie Mercury was once asked how he would like to be remembered. ‘You can do what you want with my music’ he said, ‘but don’t make it boring. “Radio GaGa” must have listened.

 


RADIO GAGA at the Adelphi Theatre

Reviewed on 14th November 2023

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Pawel Spolnicki

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

An Evening Of Burlesque | ★★★★ | October 2023
Back To The Future | ★★★★ | October 2021

Radio Gaga

Radio Gaga

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