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Videos: Darren Criss Talks MAYBE HAPPY ENDING and GLEE Success on LIVE WITH KELLY AND MARK
The new musical is now playing at the Belasco Theatre.
By: Josh Sharpe Jan. 23, 2025
Darren Criss recently visited Live with Kelly and Mark to discuss his new Broadway musical Maybe Happy Ending. On the show, the Glee star shared his affinity for new and original material and stressed the importance of telling new stories like Maybe Happy Ending.
"The greatest stories we've ever experienced in life are the ones we were not prepared to hear. And that's why we remember them," said Criss. The musical addresses the concept of love, and why it exists, though the performer clarified that this weighty question is "packaged in this very cute, under two-hour musical comedy with beautiful music and one hell of a spectacle." He added that, because of the lack of a cast album at this point, audiences attend the show feeling that they have "uncovered a secret gem."
Also in the interview, the actor explained how the hit show Glee helped prepare him for his Broadway career, which has included How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. "I owe my tenure on Broadway to my tenure on Glee. I don't think there's a chance in hell that I would've had any career doing musical theater if it wasn't for the popularity of that TV show," he said. Watch the conversation here.
Maybe Happy Ending stars Darren Criss and Helen J Shen with music by Will Aronson, lyrics by Hue Park, book by both Aronson and Park, and direction by Tony Award-winner Michael Arden. The cast also includes Steven Huynh, Hannah Kevitt, Daniel May, and Christopher James Tamayo.
Inside a one-room apartment on the outskirts of Seoul, Oliver (Criss) lives a happily quiet life listening to jazz records and caring for his favorite plant. But what else is there to do when you’re a HelperBot 3, a robot that has long been retired and considered obsolete? When his fellow HelperBot neighbor Claire (Shen) asks to borrow his charger, what starts as an awkward encounter leads to a unique friendship, a surprising adventure, and maybe even...love? Winner of the Richard Rodgers Award, Maybe Happy Ending is the offbeat and captivating story of two outcasts near the end of their warranty who discover that even robots can be swept off their feet. Helmed by visionary director and Tony Award winner Michael Arden (Parade, Once on This Island), with a dazzling scenic design by Dane Laffrey (A Christmas Carol) and book, music, and lyrics by the internationally acclaimed duo Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending is a fresh, original musical about the small things that make any life worth living.
Maybe Happy Ending was written in both Korean and English-language versions. The Korean-language version opened in December of 2016 at DaeMyung Culture Factory in Seoul and subsequently won six Korean Musical Awards including Best Musical. The English-language version was awarded the 2017 Richard Rodgers Production Award and had its U.S. premiere at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta in the 2019-2020 season under the direction of Michael Arden.
