MAYBE HAPPY ENDING Reviews- Page 63

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 11/3/25 at 1:01pm

He was really wonderful in this and rose above all the public harassment and actual threats he had to deal with (many from the people on here sadly). Sales didn't decline, he got great reviews, and now people can stop bitching about who Oliver is. The team ignored all the bullsh*t, nobody died, and it all worked out. Congratulations Andrew!

Updated On: 11/3/25 at 01:01 PM

[MezzA101]

Posted: 11/3/25 at 1:13pm

Longer version 

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8DA3YV5

[Azúcar!]

Posted: 11/3/25 at 2:26pm

He really was magnificent in this role.  I am happy the producers gave us the opportunity to see this.  

[hicaesar]

Posted: 11/6/25 at 3:28pm

Azúcar! said: "He really was magnificent in this role. I am happy the producers gave us the opportunity to see this."

I'm sad that I missed it - I wanted to but 9 weeks went by fast! I thought about flying up the last week just to see it but flights are a bit $$$ right now.  

It will be very interesting to see how long Darren performs and who they cast next both on broadway and the national tour.  

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 11/8/25 at 1:49pm

Darren is leaving in February, so I'm sure his replacement will be announced after the holidays.

[MezzoDiva47]

Posted: 11/8/25 at 11:30pm

MemorableUserName said: "DAME said: "TRUTH"

The only truth in that post is that in America, white supremacy usually wins. And it did, as usual."

 

only in the extreme circles does casting a perfectly-qualified person for a few weeks equate to white 'supremacy'

white supremacy does exist and should be fought against

but this kind of accusation dilutes the important discussion around the issue

besides, this whole ordeal has already come and gone

and miraculously everyone has survived

the shows finances did not suffer

tens of thousands of people got a chance to see a wonderful actor perform in the role

i am so glad that the woke mob failed in their effort to bully Andrew Barth Feldman into resigning

whose only crime is that he happens to be white

sanity has returned to the landscape and ppl are no longer falling for these tactics

which are almost as bad as MAGAs tactics

now the woke mob can move on to the next thing that offends them

which for them wont be hard to find

 

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 11/9/25 at 12:28am

Sutton Ross said: "He was really wonderful in this and rose above all the public harassment and actual threats he had to deal with (many from the people on here sadly).Sales didn't decline, he got great reviews, and now people can stop bitching about who Oliver is. The team ignored all the bullsh*t, nobody died, and it all worked out. Congratulations Andrew!"

It aint easy agreeing with Sutton Ross on anything, but here we are.

All the pearl clutching and faux outrage about "white supremacy" (here the white supremacists were a bunch of Asian, gay, Jewish producers and actors) and ticket sales stayed strong, the show stayed open, and we all lived to see another day.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 11/9/25 at 1:16am

You forgot to add "WHITE POWER!" at the end of your post, but don't worry, it was understood.

And if you don't understand that non-white people are just as capable of upholding systems of white supremacy as white folk, you really don't have a clue. (You probably also believe that women can't be misogynists or work against the interests of other women either. You would be wrong on that as well.)

Meanwhile, it's interesting that grosses went down for the final two weeks of the white savior the producers and so many people here claimed the show desperately needed to stay afloat, because it would surely tank with those icky, uppity Asians in the lead. If he were any kind of draw, wouldn't audiences have been clamoring to see him while they could? But he wasn't a draw, he wasn't needed, and the show would have survived just fine without him, because the recently crowned Tony winner for Best Musical was the draw, as anyone with any common sense knew.

But now Criss is back, and Feldman can get to work on his audition tape for the next revival of Flower Drum Song or something.

Updated On: 11/9/25 at 01:16 AM

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 11/9/25 at 10:30am

ah, yes, I, too, am a white supremacist. did not see that coming.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 11/9/25 at 11:52am

 All the pearl clutching and faux outrage about "white supremacy" (here the white supremacists were a bunch of Asian, gay, Jewish producers and actors) and ticket sales stayed strong, the show stayed open, and we all lived to see another day.

Correct.

 But he wasn't a draw, he wasn't needed, and the show would have survived just fine without him, because the recently crowned Tony winner for Best Musical was the draw, as anyone with any common sense knew.

Aw, none of that is true but attacking people hundreds of times on this thread for supporting Andrew, thinking it would make any kind of difference in any possible way, is deeply hilarious. He got the part, he was great in the part, sales didn't decline, and this absolute horrible tragedy is now over for you so you can resume your normal life. Now listen to Mother:



 

 

[hicaesar]

Posted: 11/9/25 at 4:29pm

"i am so glad that the woke mob failed in their effort to bully Andrew Barth Feldman into resigning

whose only crime is that he happens to be white"

his other crime was dating an Asian actress.... because that's really how the whole thing became a thing. The producers thought (as would I) - how cool would it be to have a real-life couple on stage.  When Andrew was in Dear Evan the producers made a marketing push about "he's the actual age of the character!" - it was kinda the same idea "he actually does love her in real life" - sure its a gimmick. this is broadway... thats the idea haha. 

 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 11/9/25 at 7:19pm

Yeah, bullying him and publicly harassing him into resigning was just laughed at and disregarded, thankfully.

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 11/10/25 at 12:03am

hicaesar said: ""i am so glad that the woke mob failed in their effort to bully Andrew Barth Feldman into resigning

whose only crime is that he happens to be white"

his other crime was dating an Asian actress.... because that's really how the whole thing became a thing. The producers thought (as would I) - how cool would it be to have a real-life couple on stage. When Andrew was in Dear Evan the producers made a marketing push about "he's the actual age of the character!" - it was kinda the same idea "he actually does love her in real life" - sure its a gimmick. this is broadway... thats the idea haha.

"

another white supremacist, welcome to the club. youll be surprised by how many of us are people of color, or jewish, or queer, its a pretty broad tent, in fact everyones in it except the 700 people upset about who played Oliver during Darren Criss' break from the show. 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 11/10/25 at 1:24am

Ha. I made a crack about Feldman preparing his audition tape for a Flower Drum Song revival since he feels entitled to play any role he wants, but yesterday I started thinking about if Shen actually was cast in a Flower Drum Song revival, and how so many here would likely start calling for Feldman to be cast opposite her, with so many of the same ridiculous arguments offered here.

"Why shouldn't Andrew Barth Feldman play Wang Ta? It would mean soooo much for them to play opposite each other!  It would be so cute! I'm sure he and Shen are looking forward to it so much, why you are trying to ruin it for them? It's interesting that if he and Shen had a kid you would let him play the role but you think it's wrong for Feldman to? The show needs a STAR and Asians aren't STARs. Andrew Barth Feldman is a STAR. Black/Asian/Jewish/Women producers say Andrew Barth Feldman should play Wang Ta so it must be right! They can't possibly be part of a system that thinks only white performers should play leading roles and Asian performers aren't fit to be leading men."

But at least MezzoDiva, Sutton, and IceColdKaren will be there in the front row, hands clasped together and clutched to their chests, basking in his wonderful performance they'll feel lucky to have seen. Take that, woke mob! Andrew Barth Feldman IS Wang Ta!

Next up: Helen J Shen in Miss Saigon! Andrew Barth Feldman IS The Engineer! (No mere Chris for him! He's too much of a STAR.)

Updated On: 11/10/25 at 01:24 AM

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 11/10/25 at 7:54am

no one thought andrew barth feldman was a star who would bring in hoards of ticket buyers. flower drum song, if im not mistaken, is about a specifically chinese american character, and maybe happy ending is about a robot. the comparison is ridiculous. 

BUT thats not the point--as you well know. it is perfectly rational to prefer that oliver be played by an asian actor, and perfectly understandable to be frustrated with asian representation on broadway. but you called the people who disagree with you white supremacists and said that casting a Jewish actor to temporarily star alongside his Asian American girlfriend in a broadway musical was an example of upholding white supremacy. that is mental illness.

its also a gift to the white supremacists, who thrive on being lumped in with those who are clearly not by useful idiots. but its ok, change the subject to feldman being forced to play a chinese refugee, it will make you feel better.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 11/12/25 at 12:29pm

Interesting that even with the show doing little to publicize Criss's return (likely because that would have brought more attention they didn't want to who was there in his absence), the show hit its highest gross in two months, since his departure, if not quite the heights of his last few weeks. Most likely further proof that the material is the star at this point and it would have continued at the same level no matter who was in the role.

Or if you do want to credit Criss for the show hitting the highest gross in two months, still nice to see a show prove more successful with more appropriate casting, instead of nepocasting the star's white boyfriend to keep icky unfit-to-play-Broadway-leads Asians offstage.

[bear882]

Posted: 11/12/25 at 11:35pm

I have expressed my opinion about the show’s casting choice under my old username (there’s a glitch I haven’t been able to fix for the moment), but I don’t think one can look at last week’s box office results and draw any particular conclusions. It was a bit underwhelming, the lowest for a Criss week of the show since just after the Tony Awards.

The musical held up fine in Criss’ absence, especially with everyone knowing he was returning (so they could just wait for the Tony-winning Best Actor regardless of what they thought about Feldman’s casting). The show’s box office didn’t do great but it didn’t come close to falling apart.

I have said this before but I’ll repeat it now. Maybe Happy Ending is a well-crafted and emotionally resonant musical that isn’t just a critical darling but one that appeals to the general audience. That’s why it succeeded. If the producers make smart decisions, I think it can thrive much longer than skeptics believe, especially without an influx of hot new musicals. But we’ll see. 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 11/14/25 at 1:17pm

"My job as a director is to fulfill as best I can the story and vision of the writers, and I feel like we have continued to do that beautifully and will continue to at the Belasco.

My job as an artist is to interpret, and will continue to interpret, hopefully in new and exciting ways. And I guarantee that as long as I'm around, MHE will be one of the most diverse shows on Broadway. Hopefully, we will be shown a prime example that these two characters can really be played by anyone. And I'm excited to see where that takes us, so we can be more diverse and less exclusionary as we move forward. And I'm so excited for audiences to see that"

-Michael Arden

What a beautiful answer to silence the drama kings who threatened and harassed him and ABF online. 

[inception]

Posted: 11/20/25 at 1:50pm

Today is my cheap day on Broadway. I didn't pay attention when they added Thursday matinees upon Criss's return, and when I did find out all the decently priced seats lower down were gone.  So after reading comments on Reddit I decided to go with center-ish of the last row of the balcony for $49.  I chose the last right so I can stand if necessary to see the part at the front of the stage without bothering anyone.  In front of me is a family with some middle school girls & I just told them if they need to stand to see that part to go right ahead as they won't bother me.  Looking at the curtain I'm thinking center balcony should be mostly OK for seeing into the apartment. Within 15 minutes I'll find out.

Actually looks like maybe it's an out of state school group.  Unfortunately lots them got stuck with seats in the far side by whoever sold them their group ticket package.

The usher is a real a-hole.  Somebody asked him something and he said "I've never seen this show."  I guess that's possible?

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 11/20/25 at 1:52pm

fwiw I was row E in the balcony and could see into the rooms just fine (missed some things on the sides due to the side I was on but nothing crucial), and it was the front of the stage that I missed the most on, so standing/leaning would probably be fine for that (unless the usher yells at you).

[inception]

Posted: 11/20/25 at 4:03pm

Yes the seat was almost as good as when I sat in the mezzanine last year.  And the show was just as charming. 

Mr. Criss gave a lovely red bucket speech at the end.

Goes to show you don't have to spend a fortune to enjoy Broadway.

[Diana Greenhouse]

Posted: 11/20/25 at 6:05pm

You gave up seeing Versailles and ended up seeing happy ending again?  I love maybe happy ending but cmon 

[bear882]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 5:19am

Diana Greenhouse said: "You gave up seeing Versailles and ended up seeing happy ending again? I love maybe happy ending but cmon"

Why is this your concern? 

Updated On: 11/21/25 at 05:19 AM

[inception]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 9:07am

BwyFlash, you can't even follow the plot here.  I gave up QofV for the Wednesday matinee & saw Two Strangers instead.  Only a few shows had Thurs mats, and out of those I chose to see MHE.  I had been watching Audience Rewards for my date to drop for Outsiders,  but fortunately just by chance before I went with seeing that again I saw something online about the change to MHE's schedule. 

Last night (Thursday) I saw OM which was fine.  I was quite tired because I started my day early with a historical walking tour of Harlem which was a great supplement to my visit earlier in the week to the Smithsonian Museum of African American History.

Wednesday night was Ragtime where Cassie Levy was simply luminous. Cassie Levy may just be the greatest living musical theatre actress of our time.  I know Barbra & Liza are still alive, but even at their prime neither could have brought such nuance to the character of Mother. Cassie Levy carries herself with such elegance and grace.

(My apologies to everyone else, I know I shouldn't egg her on by making such specifically tailored comments for her benefit. Mea Culpa!)

Back on topic of this thread: it is admirable how tight & on point Helen Shen has kept her performance from when I saw MHE just over a year ago. She is putting in the work!

 

 

Updated On: 11/21/25 at 09:07 AM

[blaxx]

Posted: 11/22/25 at 3:50pm

I must be one of the last ones to see this and I have a question about the plot I may have missed:

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

I missed when he decides he won't delete his memories, is she aware he won't delete them?

Does this mean also she will soon stop working altogether?