MAYBE HAPPY ENDING Previews

It’s not the end.

Four years after its North American premiere at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, the new, original musical Maybe Happy Ending arrives at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway tomorrow night (October 16), prior to a November 12 official opening. The futuristic romcom stars Darren Criss and Helen J Shen as neighboring robots; the two are joined onstage by Dez Duron and Marcus Choi. Music, lyrics, and book for Maybe Happy Ending are by Will Aronson and Hue Park; Michael Arden directs.

“Inside a one-room apartment on the outskirts 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?”

Who’s making the trek to South Korea?

Re: is it new or a revival...

Was Les Miz considered new or a revival when the English translation of the French musical was first produced, in a version that came from London?

This was on my longlist to see during my November visit from the West Coast, but got knocked off for a few reasons. The main being a 7pm start time that I doubt will work on a three show day after see the Jamboree thing. Alex Moffat for under $100 off-Bwy sold me over Darren Criss. The marketing overall for this has been poor. Hopefully they push & get onto some of the daytime shows like Kelly Clarkson or Kelly Rippa or Drew Barrymore.

I’ve been seeing so many ads for this show. I haven’t seen any Gatsby ads at all.
I hope the dress rehearsal goes well this evening.

BREAK A LEG for the company of Maybe Happy Ending. Finally, an original musical, not another revival, or a weakly plotted jukebox retread, or a movie desecrated with a generic mediocre score. Great to see Darren Criss originating a role. Broadway needs more original new musicals. Last season had several good ones from Outsiders to Suffs to Gatsy and Sondheim's final show. We need more new shows, so good luck to this season's newest show.

merle57 said: "BREAK A LEG for the company of Maybe Happy Ending. Finally, an original musical,not another revival, or a weakly plottedjukebox retread,or amoviedesecrated with a generic mediocre score. Great to see Darren Criss originating a role. Broadway needs more original new musicals. Last season had several good ones from Outsiders to Suffs to Gatsy and Sondheim's final show. We need more new shows, so good luck to this season's newest show."

Almost everything you listed is an adaptation.

The clip they posted on their socials of what looks like tech rehearsals looks very charming and like a blend of modern design with throwback rom-com musical energy. I’m even more interested in seeing it now.

I would very much like for a genuinely original musical to get good word of mouth and grow to be a success story, but they’ll definitely have an uphill battle with this one.

Updated On: 10/16/24 at 03:06 PM

Looking forward to seeing it next weekend, tho I'm definitely getting "Heartbeeps" vibes from the plot. I'm sure Bernadette is thinking, "this is familiar somehow." 😅

How was the show, folx?

Nothing to dread. It's a cute show no matter the production. We just wished it was directed in a better and different way than the Korean version - or a new vision with newer design. It's so similar it feels like the opposite of Close revival of Sunset - same thing, more money in the set. After this, and Versailles, this cemented Arden as a revival director for us, knowing the previous incarnations of MHE.

This is Criss' best for Broadway, as H2$ wasn't a prefect match and did not see his Hedwig. The score may be the best part.... but the newer crowd will enjoy not knowing the previous similar incarnations.

Updated On: 10/16/24 at 11:04 PM

Bunch of positive takes @ Reddit r/Broadway. Good to hear.

So, did the show end up having any big, spectacular moments that were often talked about by the cast? Genuinely curious -- it seems, if anything, that the show certainly has heart, but to promote a sweet show with an emphasis on technical "wow" always seemed an odd combination to me.

TheatreMonkey said: "So, did the show end up having any big, spectacular moments that were often talked about by the cast? Genuinely curious -- it seems, if anything, that the show certainly has heart, but to promote a sweet show with an emphasis on technical "wow" always seemed an odd combination to me."

There was a cool projection moment that hit later in Act One that made me wonder... why haven't they been using this the entire show? Other than that it's a bunch of flats moving around and some neon trimming. Nothing like the BTTF car or the POTO chandelier... so no idea what Darren was talking about.

Updated On: 10/18/24 at 02:10 PM

This may be a stupid question, but why do so many "seriously undersold" shows now not use discount codes? Compared to when I first started making regular trips to NYC and following all of this closely in the late 2000's, discount codes seem far less common.