Maybe Happy Ending, the musical, now playing at the Belasco theatre, is a marvelously quirky universal fairy tale fueled with love and perseverance. Set in the near future Helperbot Yards just outside of Seoul it is about the extreme beauty of being human, of fully loving one another, of completely living, living in a world where fireflies are flickers of hope lighting up the night and our imaginations. The importance of connection and expansion of the soul, of reaching out to one another to light up each other’s sense of harmony and belonging. It is all about us, told through and experienced by those who are not us. There is nothing like Maybe Happy Ending, which debuted in Seoul, South Korea, in 2016 and is now here to captivate audiences with its unique telling of a love story never seen before.
To love self, to love others, we’ve been told, is to breathe in through your heart. But what if you have no heart?
Oliver ( Daren Criss) was the Helperbot to James ( Marcus Choi), but circumstances led to his being retired, and now Oliver waits with the hope that James will contact him to come back, to come home. He passes the time talking to his plant, HwaBoon, given to him by James, and listening to the extensive jazz album collection James also gave him. Oliver’s favorite crooner is Gil Brentley (played by the fabulous Dez Duron). Brentley sings about love, finding it, keeping it, and letting it go.
Claire ( Helen J. Shen) was retired by Jiyeon (Arden Cho) and her fiancee (Young Mazino) as they needed to move on with their own relationship – alone.
Maybe Happy Ending is about the beautiful mystery of love. First falling into it and then living in it with all the complications that come with a “relationship.” The surprise is, who is falling in love? These two retired and now obsolete robots were purchased by the wealthy to be companions and help with daily needs. Due to circumstances, Oliver and Claire find themselves having to spend time together for days on end and through a series of accidents and discoveries, they find themselves in love.
It’s a new feeling that they are trying to understand. How a touch from one another is so different from the touch of others. How it transforms them from everyday to the floating, giggling, joyous place of love. Is there a common trajectory of falling in love?
The fabulous writing team of Will Aronson and Hue Park have written a wonderfully different, beautifully constructed production with touching humor and heart. The process reminds us of something we cannot forget – compromise. Compromise is the ability to look at both sides of a dispute and find a common ground. Compromise is finding the happy ending, or at least one that is not as painful and will benefit in some way both sides.
Both of their stories, Claire’s and Oliver’s, start off feeling real and obvious and simple, but as the tale unfolds, the truth is slowly revealed, and it is much more complicated than previously thought as new reveals flush out the picture.
In one hundred minutes this brilliant production unfolds in beauty and hilarity.
The cast is stupendous. Criss and Shen are remarkable. This production marks the Broadway debut for Shen and Dez Duron. Welcome!
The staging by director Michael Arden is gorgeously theatrical and precise. The scenic design by Dane Laffrey is one of the most fantastical, precise, brilliant designs I have ever seen. It unfolds again and again, transforming itself into different spaces and mystical places. The lighting by Ben Stanton is stellar. Every piece of this production is perfection. Go and see something you have never seen before.
“Where there is love there is life.” Mahatma Gandhi …
Maybe Happy Ending book, music, and lyrics by Will Aronson and Hue Park, directed by Michael Arden
With: Darren Criss, Helen J, Shen, Marcus Choi, Dez Duron, Arden Cho, Young Mazino
Creative Team: book, music, and lyrics by Will Aronson and Hue Park, directed by Michael Arden, Dane Laffrey – Scenic and Additional Video Design, Clint Ramos – Costume Design, Ben Stanton
Lighting Design, Peter Hylenski Sound Design, George Reeve Video & Projection Design, Craig Franklin Miller Hair Design, Suki Tsujimoto Makeup Design, Deborah K. Abramson
Music Supervisor, John Yu,n Music Director, and Justin Scribner, Production Stage Manager
Orchestra: Musical Director/Conductor John Kun, Associate Music Director/Conductor Eric Kang, Viola- OrlandoWells, Cello – Jessica Wang, Bass – Conrad Korsch, Drums/Percussion – Joshua Mark Samuels, Woodwinds – Rick Heckman, Trumpets – John Bailey, Trombone- Julie Dombroski-Jones
Belasco Theater: 111 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036
TICKETS HERE
Running Time: 100 Minutes, no intermission