MAYBE HAPPY ENDING Reviews — Page 42

The Distinctive Baritone said: "MemorableUserName said: "If the producers are supposed to know they're placing the actor in an impossible situation if he accepts the role, shouldn't the actor also be aware of that? It seems implausible that someone who's been dating an Asian actress for years wouldn't be aware of the issues involved. Whatever the reason he accepted it, even if 9 out of 10 others would, does he take none of the responsibility for that choice?

The Distinctive Baritone, just curious. You say you'reconcerned about Feldman's future prospects and hope he isn't affected by this. He's likely to get more opportunities at roles, including leads, than the Asian performers who weren't even considered for the lead in a musical set in South Korea. Do they get any sympathy, or is that just the business?"

Don't get me wrong - they absolutely should have cast an Asian actor to replace Darren Criss. It was completely idiotic of them to think that they could switch things up this late in the game. I'm just saying that ABF is twenty-three years old (old enough to be an adult but not old enough to have the perspective it would have taken for him to have said "no")and works primarily in musical theatre, so it's sad that his Broadway career may effectively be over after his MHE contract because of this situation. It's possible to feel bad for both sides, isn't it? I believe on Reddit they would call it an ESH situation."

His Broadway career is not over. But he should’ve known better than to have accepted this role. Then again, he played Dopey in the recent Snow White movie, so maybe  that was typecasting. 

Matt Rogers said: "
His Broadway career is not over. But he should’ve known better than to have accepted this role. Then again, he played Dopey in the recent Snow Whitemovie, so maybe that was typecasting."

Young people (even legal adults) are so often dumb and oblivious. I also put this on his manager who is supposed to be acting in his best interest being a guiding hand and they royally dropped the ball. 

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I think the only fair thing to do is cancel the entire entertainment industry; close all theatres, and greenlight no more movies or TV shows. No more opportunities for anyone if there can’t be satisfactory opportunities for everyone. 

You never disappoint in having the dumbest statement.

Nope, still you.

I still am struck by the many ironies of this whole situation.

The first is that Maybe Happy Ending’s producers, when the show could barely open, stuck with their decision to choose - with the obvious exception of the white singer - an all-Asian cast. The show’s setting didn’t even have to be Korea. They chose and promoted a total unknown as the leading lady. Except for Darren Criss, it was a cast of nobodies - and Criss wasn’t enough of a star to open the show. He and Helen J. Shen just happened to be really good in it.

But in the wake of great word of mouth, a musical that isn’t just good but appeals to a mass audience, the producers lost their nerve. Andrew Barth Feldman, as Kad notes, isn’t enough of a star to guarantee anything - and he’s only staying two months. So that doesn’t really help even if Feldman is a bigger draw than I believe.

Setting aside the optics, the producers look like they’re really unsure of themselves. Feldman may be terrific as Oliver, but as talented as he may be, this is stunt casting. They’re boyfriend and girlfriend in real life! How adorable! Most people don’t know who these actors are, much less care about their relationship status. This is what desperate producers do to revive an ailing show, not to maintain momentum for a money-making Best Musical.

The outcry over the casting decision was as predictable as the sunrise. Regardless of what anyone thinks of the backlash, it was inevitable in a year that featured a popular revival of Yellow Face. It remains shocking to me that no one involved with the decision apparently saw it coming - not the producers, not the writers, not Shen, not Feldman, not any of their advisers or agents or PR teams. Isn’t that their job?

One of the things that struck me about the writers’ response is their statement that they believed the show’s themes to be ‘universal.’ They are correct. Maybe Happy Ending is an entertaining musical, but it also about loss, loneliness, and death. But it also has a setting, a real place. Why can’t shows set in Asia, with Asian characters (even robots), be universal? No one is insisting that some high school in Iowa cast Asian kids in the lead roles a decade from now. The protesters don’t want to kill the show. They just don’t want to lose something they thought they had gained. The writers forgot that once their show is out in the world, they no longer control people’s responses to it - including the pride of Asian-American audiences and the expectations that go with that.

I understand that critics of the backlash think this is all a ridiculous overreaction, one that threatens the long-term viability of a show co-written by a Korean man and likely to offer work to other Asian-American actors going forward - unless it dies prematurely.

But this isn’t a Great Comet situation. Maybe Happy Ending can survive this, as it’s in a much stronger financial position than Great Comet was in July and August of 2017. The producers just need to make smarter decisions and repair the damage.

One of the other ironies, to me, is the reality that it gets tough for any show to attract big-name stars to be the second- or third replacements. For Maybe Happy Ending to really thrive, the show needs to be the star. How do the producers think it succeeded in the first place?

As I mentioned before, one of Maybe Happy Ending’s greatest strengths was its ability to address serious subjects while largely avoiding the present-day controversies that are roiling the nation. It was escapism of the best kind. The producers and creatives lost that with this decision, allowing a bunch of real-world unpleasantness into the conversation about the show. That’s unfortunate, but it seems fixable.

Updated On: 8/12/25 at 02:26 AM

TheatreFan4 said: "Nope, still you."

You do realize I was leaning into the mob’s logic with sarcasm, right? 

People are still going back and fourth on this? Time to move on, fam.

hicaesar said: "Without anyone calling me names - I would actually like to hear why this is different then Hadestown. All of the leads are currently POC - the next cast will have 2 white actors Isn't it the same thing? White actors replacing POC. Are we to believethat Hadestown couldn't find more POC to perform these parts? Doesn't Hadestown celebrate diversity as much as Happy Ending?

None of this is me trying to be snarky - I honestly don't understand the difference.

1. Hadestown is set in um, hell, and not South Korea.

2. Hadestown has always had white understudies. MHE has none.

3. MHE opened less than a year ago. Hadestown is now a long running show.

"

 

1. Hadestown is set in um, hell, and not South Korea.

It’s a South Korea of the future. So, both fantasy places where we don’t know for sure who-will-look-like-what.

2. Hadestown has always had white understudies. MHE has none.

Two of the three male understudies MUST be Asian based on the human roles they play. The one male understudy who covers Gil and Oliver could have been white, with Dez being white and Darren being half white, but he’s Asian. Why isn’t this seen as a “win” for the mob?

3. MHE opened less than a year ago. Hadestown is now a long running show.

So? What does duration of run have to do with anything?
 

Idiot said: "TheatreAddict said: "I hope this show is able to survive Criss's departure."

Do you think the draw isCriss himself or the overall glow of seeing 'the original cast'? (I don't think the identity politics tempest influences salesas much as some here seem to believe.)"

Criss was certainly not a draw when this musical got announced and struggled tremendously for the first few months. Very positive WOM, critics reviews and multiple Tony wins - all that contributed to MHE success. I think that identity of the cast was the last thing that influenced the sales. 

Darren Criss is not only the show's star, but one of its producers. Criss announced on May 30 that he'd leave Aug. 31. (Feldman was announced July 24.)

There was plenty of time to find a fine Asian-American actor to take over the role. And if race isn't important to the role of Oliver, why was it important to cast two Asian-American actors - Stephen Huynh and Christopher James Tamayo - as Criss' understudies? ... So what happened? Did ''Maybe Happy Ending'' just do the more expedient thing and cast the rising Caucasian actor who happens to be dating the show's leading lady? Oooh, think of the cute press angle!

Did no one at ''Maybe Happy Ending'' consider the optics and backlash, especially from the Asian-American community, of replacing the show's Asian-American star (and the first one to win for Leading Actor in a Musical in the 78-year history of the Tony Awards) at the very first chance with a Caucasian actor? Didn't it care at all how hurtful this reflects on especially male Asian-American actors, who historically have lost opportunities due to yellow face, whitewashing, etc,?

It's been weeks now, and ''Maybe Happy Ending's'' producers have yet to directly address this casting controversy, and their silence is deafening.

''Maybe Happy Ending" had been hailed for its diversity in casting, but it's now tarnished the goodwill it received, especially from the AAPI community.

Whatever happens at the Belasco, the issue of the lack of opportunities for Asian-American actors will not go away any time soon.

''This is not yellow face.''

I never said ''Maybe Happy Ending'' was yellow face. Presumably, Feldman will not be using prosthetics or makeup to pass himself off as Asian. What I wrote was: ''male Asian-American actors historically have lost opportunities due to yellow face, whitewashing, etc. I was pointing to the various factors that have victimized male Asian-American actors in the past. It's this legacy of inequality that offends B.D. Wong, Jose Llana, Conrad Ricamora, Ann Harada, Awkwafina and Bowen Yang, and their allies, like Donna Murphy and Anthony Rapp. That's why they're taking a stand.

 

Updated On: 8/12/25 at 06:16 PM

Darren Criss has said he realizes he's had more opportunities than his Asian-American brethren (who read Asian) because he reads white. Though his mom is Filipino, people just assumed the popular ''Glee'' star was Caucasian. Criss didn't really lean into his Filipino heritage that much publicly until he played the serial killer Andrew Cunanan in Ryan Murphy's 2018 Emmy-winning  ''The Assassination of Gianni Versace.''

Criss won the plum role, in part, because he kinda resembled Cunanan, and like Cunanan, was half-Filipino. At the Golden Globes, he celebrated representation and gave a big shoutout to his ''firecracker Filipino'' mom. Since then, he has played a half-Filipino director who passes for white in Netflix's ''Hollywood'' miniseries, and, of course,  starred in "Maybe Happy Ending,'' a musical from South Korea.

By the way, when Criss was working on ''Versace,'' it was he who recommended Jon Jon Briones (''Miss Saigon'' ) to play Cunanan's Filipino father. Murphy said he was blown away by Briones' brilliant tour de force and wondered why he wasn't aware of this great actor. Criss had to tell Murphy that that's the plight of many fine Asian-American actors: They seldom get the opportunities to shine as stars.

So when Criss became the 1st Asian-American to win the Best Actor Tony, I was excited that he'd pass the baton to the next Asian-American leading man ...

Updated On: 8/12/25 at 08:55 PM

theatreguy, I hope you’ve got your running shoes on, because you make such excellent and watertight points that the mob is now going to chase you that much harder.