Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Darren Criss returns to Broadway alongside Helen J Shen in the new romantic musical comedy Maybe Happy Ending. Inside a one-room apartment in the heart of Seoul, Oliver 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 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, with a dazzling scenic design by Dane Laffrey 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.
Alas, charm goes a long way. Criss is often his most compelling when given a character with edge (his stint as the titular East German rocker in Hedwig and the Angry Inch or his Emmy-winning turn in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story) but here he is charming, spirited and wonderfully funny. Meanwhile, the show around him is grasping at many bubbling themes and carrying only a select few over the finish line. But Maybe Happy Ending dazzles with its love story and astounds with its visual accomplishments. There’s nothing robotic about this production: it wears its heart on its sleeve and on charm alone, succeeds.
“Maybe Happy Ending” is an undeniably moving, well-made, adorable musical, and it is a pleasant surprise to see an audience weep at a show about two robots in love. The musical makes the bold claim that maybe we are not that different from robots after all, or that they are not that different from us. Just as robots have much to learn from humans, we in turn can learn from them, especially how to care for each other and for ourselves. It’s crucial to know when you need to charge your battery, but likewise it’s important to be willing to share that charger with someone in need.
2024 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
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