Christiani Pitts Is Having the Time of Her Life Carrying a Cake Across New York

"It's the most fun I've ever had on stage," Christiani Pitts says of playing Robin in the delightful two-hander Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York). The new musical is described as a rom-com, but Pitts says it's "so much more" than that. "It explores deeper levels of people's humanity, of the choices that these people are making," she tells The Broadway Show host Tamsen Fadal. "Both are going through things in their life that seem small to them, but are huge in retrospect, and they sort of help each other get through it in just 36 hours," she explains of Robin and Sam Tutty's Dougal.

Two Strangers is a love letter to New York City, and Pitts points out that this is the place for something life changing to happen. Alternating between silly and serious, Pitts says audiences are often surprised by just how hard they laugh during the show. It was the writing that immediately drew her in, though she admits to accidentally only having read the first half of the script before her initial audition. Still, that was all it took for her to fall in love with the story. "It was so good that I only finished half of it and was like, 'This is one of the best things I've ever read.' It's so fast and smart and witty. So when I read the first half, I was hooked."

Pitts first joined Tutty for the show's run in Boston at the American Repertory Theater, before the pair transferred with the show to New York. Since then, "I've had more cake than I can even talk about, but I eat it every time," she laughs. "You think at some point you'd be like, 'I think I've had enough.' I'm going to eat it. I'm going to eat the cake."

Moving with her three-year-old daughter from Georgia to New York, both are loving the change of pace. "She's really happy to see me doing what I love to do," Pitts shares. "She sings the songs from the show. She's trying to take my job!" Outside of a rigorous Broadway schedule and being a mom, Pitts is also working to develop a television series based on the story of how her parents met. "My dad was an upcoming journalist, my mom was a narcotics cop in 1980s Miami," she says of the unlikely pairing. Balancing all the aspects of a full life, Pitts has to give herself grace every now and then. As she puts it, "It's a lot"—but she seems to be loving every New York minute.

Get tickets to Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)!