During a theatre trip to New York this year, I saw Maybe Happy Ending on Broadway. I didn’t know much about it going in. I hadn’t watched a bunch of trailers or listened to the soundtrack like I usually do before a show. However, when I walked into the theater that afternoon, I was completely transported into a future version of Seoul, South Korea. The story follows two outdated HelperBots named Oliver and Claire. They’ve both been replaced by their previous owners and are now basically forgotten in their little apartments. They meet by accident, start spending time together, and slowly, in this gentle way, fall into something like love. The problem is that they are robots, and robots are not programmed to feel anything. That is what makes Maybe Happy Ending so powerful. It’s about how people (or robots in this case) connect.
Darren Criss plays Oliver, and he’s perfect in the role. He makes you forget you’re watching an actor on stage and not an actual little robot trying to figure out how to be human. The way he moves stiffly like a robot or transforms his voice to sound robotic is perfect. Darren Criss is “pure perfection and is on a whole different level of talent. Leaving the show, I couldn’t believe he was not a robot” (Raven Hale 12). Many may know the name Darren Criss from the hit TV series Glee or DC Justice League, so seeing him portray an enthusiastic robot may be a shift! Helen J. Shen plays Claire, and she completely stole the show. Her voice is unreal, but more than that, she just feels so real in the way she moves, reacts, and opens up throughout the story. “I just could not believe that was her Broadway debut. Incredible.” (Jack Spillane 10). Helen J. Shen is bound to have a bright future with the way she performed in this Broadway masterpiece.
Another important aspect to note is the set. The story takes place in the Helperbot Apartments, which are both very high-tech and extremely small. It is small and simple, mostly taking place in Oliver’s quiet apartment filled with soft lighting and worn-down furniture. It feels lonely at first, but as the characters open up, the space slowly changes with them through lighting shifts and subtle projections. The incredible thing is that nothing feels flashy about the show or the lighting. It just makes you feel like you’re watching two people find a connection in a world that forgot them. This makes the show much more relatable. Seeing this show reminded me that a musical doesn’t need to be huge or loud to win over an audience. It just needs heart and honesty, which Maybe Happy Ending had a lot of. The songs stuck with me long after I left, and I had the cast album on repeat on the plane ride home. I can attest that most people were sobbing during the final scene as well. As far as the Tonys go, winning Best Musical usually means being original, moving, and memorable. This show is all three because it tells a story so simple that no one else is telling it. It leaves an impact on the audience that only a show so real could. That’s what theatre is supposed to do, and therefore why Maybe Happy Ending deserves to win.
