Sam Tutty is ready to take his first bow on Broadway. The 27-year-old is making his Broadway debut this fall as the leading man in the new, original musical Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York).
It’s hardly the actor’s first time on a professional stage, however. A native of West Sussex, a county just 28 miles south of London, Tutty got his big break playing the lead role in Dear Evan Hansen on the West End — a performance that earned him, among a host of other accolades, the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical in 2020.
After wrapping up his time as Evan, Tutty was ready to set his sights on a new kind of challenge, determined to avoid being typecast and in search of a role as different as possible from the anxiety-ridden teen outcast that had made him a star of the London theater scene.
Along came Two Strangers, a quirky, wholly original story from U.K. composing duo Jim Barne and Kit Buchan. In the musical, Tutty plays Dougal, a wide-eyed, enthusiastic Brit visiting New York City for the very first time to attend the wedding of his estranged father. At the airport, he’s met by Robin, the straight-forward sister of the bride played by A Bronx Tale and King Kong veteran Christiani Pitts, and as the mismatched pair wind their way through the city with a list of errands to complete for the big day, they end up learning more about each other — and themselves — than they ever thought possible.
Tutty has been involved in the project from nearly its earliest iteration, starring in productions across the pond both Off-West End and on the West End, as well as in the show’s out-of-town tryout in Boston ahead of its Broadway debut this November.
The musical’s road to New York City has been long, winding and filled with plenty of cake, but starring on Broadway is still something Tutty can’t quite process amidst the hustle and bustle of rehearsals and prepping for its official opening.
“[It’s] surreal,” he tells Ticketmaster. “It feels like the show’s home and it feels really right doing it in the city that it’s about. It just feels very much like the circle is complete now. We sort of can’t get better than this.”
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) begins performances November 1 at the Longacre Theatre with opening night scheduled for November 20. On a lunch break during rehearsals, Tutty sat down exclusively with Ticketmaster to discuss the musical, what he’s learned from his co-star Christiani Pitts, living in New York City for the first time and the prospect of making his Broadway debut.
Congratulations on the show! How are rehearsals going?
Thank you, thank you. It’s good fun, yeah. There’s still echoes of Boston sort of, like, injected into the show, which is really fun. Just means that we know the basics and now we can just sort of fine-tune, you know? It’s really, really good. Good place, yeah.
So before you got involved with Two Strangers, you spent the better part of four years starring in Dear Evan Hansen on the West End. Coming off of such a life-changing, monumental experience, how did you go about choosing the kind of show that you wanted to do next?
Well, the thing is that it wasn’t necessarily like I was spoiled for choice. You know, COVID was still ridiculously ripe. Like, just so present in the industry. So jobs were so far and few between. But I was aware of certain roles that I, perhaps, wanted to have stayed away from. Because I am so, to my own detriment maybe, worried about being pigeonholed. There are some people in this industry… they’re very quick to pigeonhole you. And if that’s what you want, then hey, crack on. That’s your opinion, that’s your life, that’s your job, I love that.
But for me, I was like, “I really wanna show that I can do something a bit more… a bit different, at least.” And then this show came along and I was like, “Wow — the direct polar opposite of Evan. Other than daddy issues, you know. There was that. So we had to have that in my contract: “He has to have problems with his dad.”
But you don’t have to do an American accent this time.
That’s it, thank gosh. And honestly, it’s for the best. It’s for the best.
Tell me a bit about Dougal, your character in Two Strangers.
He’s a really eccentric, golden retriever-style guy. Like completely not intimidated by anything or anyone, but in such a humble, refreshing [way]. There’s no toxic masculinity involved at all. He’s just such a happy, happy-go-lucky guy, with elements of denial in some capacities that I can’t give up too much. Everyone will have to come and see the show to know what that’s all about. But he’s a really fun guy to play. And the way that [composers] Kit Buchan and Jim Barne and [director] Tim Jackson, our creative team, have written him, [his] evolution throughout the show is just so satisfying as an actor to play. It’s really, really fun.
Do you relate to his personality in any way?
I think I would like to. [He’s] sort of a person I aspire to be. And I’m learning more about myself through him than I even anticipated. With each iteration of the show, I’m sort of exposed to different sides of Dougal that I [admire]. You know, that’s an element of a human being I would want to adopt. So, hopefully yes? But I’m learning a lot about myself.
The show opens with Dougal performing “New York” as Robin picks him up at the airport. And the song just so perfectly encapsulates the experience of anybody who comes here to the city for the first time but has no idea what they’re getting into.
Yes, exactly. And I think that’s why it’s so well-written, ’cause it’s contrasted with Robin, a New York native who understands the realities and the obstacles that the city can throw at you. So there’s a massive juxtaposition there and they’ve got to elevate each other, hugely.
What can you tease about the journey that Dougal takes on his two days in New York?
He’s going to his estranged father’s wedding, and he’s met at the airport by Robin, the sister of the bride. And it’s a story about how they change each other for who they should be rather than who they want to be. Anything else, I can’t tease the cakes. The cakes, you know, come and see. Come and see.
What’s it been like working with your co-star, Christiani Pitts?
I’m not intelligent enough, nor do I have the appropriate vocabulary, to even express how grateful I am for her. She’s such an authentic, open, honest performer and human being. And it translates into her work effortlessly with such intelligence and grace. Everything she does is so intentional in her professional and personal life. And she’s very humble as well, so she’ll probably shout at me for saying stuff like this. She won’t believe it, but she should. It’s a real honor and she’s definitely elevated my work to a standard I didn’t expect. For sure.
There’s really something to be said about the intimacy of a two-person show compared to so many of the big, epic spectacles on Broadway.
Yes. It’s such a joy to be in a show about two very unimportant people who aren’t trying to change the world. And then you can go down a block and see about a cast of 40 who are trying to do something massive, and they’re both necessary. Both genres or styles complement each other. And it’s a service to the audience, you know? If they want to see that one day, they can, and if they want to see something with a closer lens, that option is also there. That’s such a gift. That’s why I love doing things like this.
Somewhat similarly to your character, I understand this is the first time you’ve lived in the city.
In New York? Yes, absolutely. I’ve been here for work, you know, but I’ve been put up in a hotel and then I’ve gone like two, three weeks later. But I’ve never lived here. And it’s really fun. I’m still very much in the sort of healing period, I’m getting used to all of the screams and the horns. That’s very overstimulating after a day of work. But it’s a beautiful city and I’m very, very gracious and feel very lucky that everyone’s really nice. I was expecting to be… you know, I had my wall up and then everyone was just so lovely and open, and it’s just great.
What’s still on your New York bucket list?
I haven’t seen the Statue of Liberty up close, I really want to see that. I want to get on a ferry. I have been, in my life, to Central Park, but I haven’t been this time around. And now that I live here, I think I’ll feel a bit less overwhelmed by it. ‘Cause it’s so beautifully big that I was like, “I want to see all of this and I can’t!” But it’s like 500,000 kilometers in square feet. Now that I’m here, I feel like I can really just settle into it, and if I don’t see something, that’s fine! Because I’ve got tomorrow!
Besides “New York,” what are some of your favorite songs in the show?
“American Express” is up there, easily. Watching Christiani sing “Be Happy” is a privilege I might never get to relive in my career. It’s a sensational piece of work. Singing “About to Go In” — basically all of them. I could just keep going down the list.
You have been with the show through every iteration — from Off-West End and the West End to, like you mentioned, the North American premiere in Boston and now Broadway. What’s it been like going through each of those stages as the show has developed?
Yeah! It just seems to evolve from each iteration. I think the more hours you put into a show, the better it’s going to be, and the show has never been in a stronger place than it is now. And because we all know the show, we can make what can seem like drastic changes to the script or to the score, but because we know everything else so, so well, it’s not the end of the world. Which is really fun and very… you don’t often get that experience. You have to put in a lot of time with people and the way that they work, and how the show works. And we’re reaping those rewards now, definitely.
What have you learned as an actor from that experience? Because, like you said, not very many people get to do that.
[That] stillness is welcome. I think it’s an important part of being human. And filling space and filling the stage isn’t always necessarily the correct choice. That’s definitely something that I’ve learned in this show, where there’s a comedic element. Sometimes the drier, the more still, the most honest version of that joke is the one that sells the most successfully.
Have you experienced any culture shock going from performing in London to America?
I think in terms of the audience, yeah. As a British person telling jokes to an American audience, [it’s] very different in ways that I can’t really describe. They just respond to jokes differently, and they respond to different jokes. It’s really interesting — it was that teething process that we had in Boston, where I really learnt what makes an American mind tick with comedy. With a British person telling the joke as well, rather than an American person telling the joke. It’s very different and it’s really fun and really interesting, that sort of relationship. I think we’re just more dry and more, like, straight down the lens.
What’s it been like bringing the show to New York, where it’s actually set?
Surreal. I mean, I can’t wait until we’re open to see what the reception is going to be like, but so far we’re just very lucky. It feels like the show’s home and it feels really right doing it in the city that it’s about. It just feels very much like the circle is complete now. We sort of can’t get better than this.
Now, you’re on the cusp of making your Broadway debut. I know it’s still several weeks away, but how does that prospect feel?
I went for dinner with the creatives last night, and we just sort of can’t… it’s impossible to get our head ’round. We also don’t have time to even digest it. It’s sort of just experiencing this thing one day at a time together. It’s something that I’m so happy I’ve gotten to experience with these guys because the team deserves it more than anyone. They’re just so hard-working, so diligent, and they love this show and they love theater… so I think it’s a real privilege to see that. But in terms of how we’re feeling, we literally have no idea. I’m very, very gracious and very happy and very excited but, like, that’s surface-level stuff. Deeper in, I literally have no idea. I literally have no idea. [Laughs]
Given all the success you’ve had on the West End, winning the Olivier Award, was Broadway still a goal for you?
Not really, no. I mean, it was always something that I would’ve wanted to have done, but…it felt like very much “stay in your lane,” maybe. It was like, this is such an unthinkable goal, I would have to do so much work to be involved — as a British actor as well, the percentage chance — I would have to be involved in a show, like what’s happened, that would then be welcomed to go to Broadway, rather than me auditioning. Because why would producers want to have to pay for so much more, you know? So I think it was very much like in the same way that I would want to be in a crazy Hollywood film. It’s like, one thing at a time. Let’s just get through the day and do some good work. And thankfully we’re in a position where that’s sort of happened.
I know you said you can’t tease anything else about them, but can I at least know what flavor the cakes are?
There’s one chocolate genoise. And then a coconut chiffon — there you go.
Wow, that’s very The Great British Bake Off of you!
Right? Yeah, I think that’s where we were heading. Very, very, very fancy. Very fancy cakes.