Broadway Theatergoers May Want To Pack Tissues for ‘Maybe Happy Ending,’ the Most Enchanting New Musical in Years

Every now and then, if you’re lucky, you’ll leave a theater with bittersweet but ultimately joyful tears streaming down your face, perhaps wishing you’d worn waterproof mascara. That was my predicament, at least, after catching a preview of “Maybe Happy Ending,” the most original and enchanting new musical to arrive on Broadway in years.Co-written by Broadway newbies Hue Park and Will Aronson, with music by Mr. Aronson, “Ending” had its premiere in Mr. Park’s native South Korea; the English-language version, introduced at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre in 2020, is also set in that country, in “the near future” — circa 2064, according to the script. There, we meet Oliver and Claire, who live in separate rooms in a housing complex for obsolete robots.These “Helperbots,” who have been discarded by their owners, both look entirely human, though Oliver is an older model. Brought to life in an adorable, heartbreaking performance by an increasingly impressive stage and screen actor, Darren Criss, Oliver betrays his vintage through jerky movements and a comical tendency to repeat certain phrases. Yet as he notes when they meet, Claire’s series, while “sleeker,” is “less durable” — a point that will come back to haunt them both, not to mention the audience.Naturally, Claire and Oliver fall for each other, but the result is much more than a romantic musical comedy with a mechanical hero and heroine. “Ending” is a one-act meditation on love, loss, mortality, and moral responsibility for the digital age — that is, now and the foreseeable future — delivered with a mix of sharp humor, poignance, and sheer imagination that’s nothing short of breathtaking.Director Michael Arden, following a string of triumphant revivals that include last year’s “Parade” and 2017’s “Once on This Island,” has recruited a cast and design team who make the most of these assets. As Claire, Helen J Shen makes a thoroughly charming Broadway debut, combining a sweetly girlish voice with a sly, dry wit that poses a winning contrast to Oliver’s earnestness.Another disarming newcomer, Dez Duron, pops up periodically as an old-time crooner named Gil Brentley, who embellishes Claire and Oliver’s budding romance with traditional pop-flavored tunes. Elsewhere, Mr. Aronson has crafted theatrically savvy, instantly engaging melodies that are enhanced by the sparkling piquance of his and Mr. Park’s lyrics.Dez Duron in ‘Maybe Happy Ending.’ Matthew Murphy and Evan ZimmermanOliver’s fondness for Gil’s tunes in particular stems from the close relationship he enjoyed with his former owner, James — played by a touching Marcus Choi, in flashbacks that unfold both onstage and in black-and-white videos — who was a big jazz fan. A deceptively cheerful opening number establishes both Oliver’s loneliness and his utter confidence that he and James will be reunited; it’s a belief that he clings to well into the show.Spoiler alert: When James’s illusions are shattered, it’s in a way that evokes ethical dilemmas posed by rapidly evolving technology while underscoring how humans have betrayed and wounded each other throughout time, even with the best of intentions. Claire’s history, as it is revealed, raises similar questions, while delving into more sinister territory.The video segments that help flesh out the robots’ pasts are designed by George Reeve, with assistance from scenic designer Dane Laffrey, who has fashioned a bewitching set of moving parts. Claire’s and Oliver’s rooms consist of sliding boxes, which are accompanied by panels that also shift with the action, providing a range of close-up and expansive views that give the production an almost cinematic quality.Ben Stanton’s lighting adds to the magic. When Oliver and Claire embark on a road trip, she takes him to a field full of butterflies, and they chase the tiny creatures as they twinkle in the night. Oliver compares them to robots; when they fly off, he tells Claire, “They’re just going home to charge.”If the scene is one of many that will put a lump in your throat, “Ending” can be as hilarious as it is heartrending. At one point, Claire’s failing battery forces the robots to check into a motel. The clerk asks Oliver, politely, “Will you be charging this?” His response is one of shocked indignance: “Excuse me, sir. ‘This’ is my wife.”By the end of the show, the robots have confronted the harrowing prospects that inevitably face even the happiest of human couples. “How can people do this?” Oliver asks Claire, referring, of course, to falling in love, and then losing the person they cherish, in one way or another. As “Maybe Happy Ending” reminds us, radiantly, most of us are fortunate enough to have no choice.

Broadway Theatergoers May Want To Pack Tissues for ‘Maybe Happy Ending,’ the Most Enchanting New Musical in Years

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