Maybe Happy Ending

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The new musical Maybe Happy Ending by first-time Broadway writers Will Aronson (book, lyrics, and music) and Hue Park (book and lyrics) is utterly beguiling and may leave you crying your eyes out by the finale or totally mesmerized by the storytelling. Ironically, this most humanistic of stage shows is not about people but has robots as protagonists instead. As Darren Criss’ Oliver and Helen J Shen’s Claire, two obsolete Helperbots, heartbreakingly explore human emotions they never thought would be possible for them, we humans are reminded of our time on earth and important moments in our own lives.

Maybe Happy Ending seems to have inspired George Reeve’s video design, Dane Laffrey’s sets and additional video design, and Ben Stanton’s lighting design to create a simply ravishing series of stage pictures. Michael Arden’s assured direction always keeps a strict focus on the main characters as the sets glide into different configurations

Set on the outskirts of Seoul, South Korea, about 40 years into the future, Maybe Happy Ending tells the story of Oliver (Criss), a Helperbot 3, an obsolete robot who looks just like a human except for some jerky motions, retired to The Helperbot Yards by his longtime owner James (Marcus Choi) with whom he had a pleasant and enjoyable life. James has given him his record player and favorite jazz LPs, plus a subscription to Jazz monthly, which are Oliver’s passions. He has been waiting 15 years for James to come and get him, living a lonely life with his plant HwaBoon to whom he talks as a human companion. He is had almost no interactions with his neighbors most of whom have powered down for good, and he hardly ever goes out.

One day there is a surprising knock on the door and Oliver is confronted with Claire, an attractive Helperbot 5, who lives across the hall and whom he has never met. Her charger isn’t working and she needs to borrow his. At first he does not want to get involved and slams the door in her face. However, when she knocks again he lets her in and they begin a friendship. As a Helperbot 5, she is more advanced both in movement and skills. She tells him that she has been living there 12 years, and has been given designer clothes and a car from her former owner. When Claire discovers that he is saving up nickels from redeeming bottles in order to rejoin James on Jeju Island to which he has retired, she offers to drive him there now rather than wait until he has enough saved up a year from now. She reminds him that they each have a shelf life to which both know its ending date. It is already impossible to get replacement parts for them or their chargers.

However, the trip does not go as planned although they do reach their destination. Unexpectedly, they discover that they have feelings for each other which was not supposed to be possible. Throughout the musical, each of them have flashbacks to their lives with their owners, James appears in person in his well-appointed apartment along with Oliver, and Claire’s wealthy owner Jiyeon (Arden Cho) and her fiancé Suhan (Young Mazino) appear on video. Oliver and James’ favorite jazz musician, band leader Gil Brentley (Dez Duron), circa 1949 – 1959, put in periodic appearances in both clubs and recording studios, singing his iconic songs.

Criss who became famous in 2010 as Blaine Anderson on the hit television series Glee is charming as Oliver, who is both cheerful and optimistic and melancholy at the same time. His slightly jerky motions and his repeated phrases that he can’t stop saying are both amusing and in character. Making her Broadway debut (though she has appeared Off Broadway in MCC Theater’s The Lonely Few and Playwrights Horizons’ Teeth), Shen makes an interesting contrast as the more practical and realistic Claire who as a Helperbot 5 is savvier to the ways of the human world. As a more advanced model, her motions are smoother and almost identical to humans. They make beautiful music together in their many duets, with each having one solo.

As Gil Brentley, an amalgam of several famous song stylists of the 1940’s and 1950’s, Duron gets to sing the silken musical numbers created by Park (lyrics) and Aronson (music and lyrics) (“Why Love,” “A Sentimental Person”, and “Then I Can Let You Go.” He as well as the composer/lyricists have this style down pat. The only other live actor to appear on stage is Choi as both Oliver’s owner James and later his son Junseo, both equally reticent and unemotional. Cho and Mazino appear in black and white video as Claire’s wealthy upper class owner Jiyeon and her working class fiancé Suhan who create fully realized characters in a few short scenes.

Visually the musical looks stunning with Laffey’s sets framed in ever- changing neon colored squares. Oliver’s simple but colorful room slides off to allow us to see Claire’s very different and feminine room across the hall and then our view opens up to allow us to see both rooms at the same time, as well as the hall between them where some of the most important events take place. Stanton lights their rooms in candy colors which suggest a high tech environment. Their journey to Jeju Island is accomplished with video projections by Reeve and Laffrey which suggest the modern cities passing by, as well as the ferry and a few places on Jeju Island. Clint Ramos’ subtle costume designs define Oliver and Claire, while giving the most changes to lounge singer Gil Brentley. Peter Hylenski’s sound design makes all of the many musical numbers crystal clear.

Maybe Happy Ending is a remarkable achievement from two young newcomers to the musical theater. Not only is the writing wise beyond their years, it has a great many important themes as part of the engrossing story line. In Oliver and Claire, Darren Criss and Helen J Shen add enduring characters to the musical canon. One of the few totally satisfying musicals to come along in many years, Maybe Happy Ending is an instant classic from Will Aronson and Hue Park who should be on the verge of a brilliant career.

Maybe Happy Ending (open run)

Belasco Theatre, 111 W. 44^th Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, call Telecharge at 212-239-6200 or visit http://www.maybehappyending.com

Running time: one hour and 50 minutes without an intermission