Video: Jim Barne & Kit Buchan Break Down the Music of TWO STRANGERS (CARRY A CAKE ACROSS NEW YORK)
The duo unpacks the Act 1 closer, 'American Express.'
By: Joey Mervis Nov. 15, 2025
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What goes into making the music of our favorite Broadway shows? How do Broadway composers make our favorite characters sing and our favorite scenes come alive? BroadwayWorld is finding out with Notes on a Score.
Today we continue the series with Jim Barne and Kit Buchan, who make their Broadway debuts this season with the already viral Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York). Watch as they unpack the Act 1 closer, "American Express."
For one magical night (Magical night)
I’m buying those stars!
I’m buying that moon!
I’m buying these cars!
I’ve stolen this spoon!
I’m selling my soul, and buying
This whole impossible mess
"Act 1 contains a lot of delayed gratification. Two people are getting to know each other and kind of circling each other. And then at end of Act 1, they find themselves with access to the resources to allow themselves to go on very extravagant night out around Manhattan," explained Buchan. "They sort of convince themselves and they convince each other that this is a legitimate thing to do. The resources come in the form of a credit card, hence the title."
"I think the idea behind the music for the song is that Dougal's vision of New York is very different from Robin's, who lives in New York," added Barne. "Dougal has this sort of fantastic idea of what a night out in New York might look like, and that's partly inspired by the films that he's seen. So with this song, we wanted to try to sort of juxtapose the initiation of the song, which is quite scandalous... using a credit card, which isn't theirs, with something quite traditional and cute."
