Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The beguiling, refreshing new musical MAYBE HAPPY ENDING examines love through the eyes of robots

• By drediman
• November 13, 2024
• No Comments

Once in a while, a musical comes along that breaks the mold of the tried and true and thoroughly captures the imagination. This week, an unlikely new Broadway musical has come along that has done just that — that would be Will Aronson and Hue Park’s Maybe Happy Ending, which opened yesterday at the Belasco Theatre. First seen in South Korea and then here regionally at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, the speculative musical tells the story of two discarded “Helperbots” who find each other in their twilight years of their disuse and embark on an adventure in the world outside the ward in which they’ve been left to fade into obsolescence. In the process, they learn more about themselves and the world, developing human-like emotions towards each other — namely love and companionship — in the absence of their former masters.

I applaud the idea of a completely original musical — considered a risky endeavor under the harsh critical and commercial gaze of Broadway — and this one seems especially daring. Indeed, science fiction is not the first genre that comes to mind when one mentions theater; it’s usually relegated to slick, high-tech filmmaking, particularly given the physical limitations of the stage. But what Aronson, Park, and the rest of the team have accomplished is to not only convincingly manifest a fantastical tale onstage, they’ve also managed to create an artistically and commercially viable piece of musical theater that successfully works on numerous levels, one that the entire family can enjoy (in tone and subject matter, the show calls to mind films like Pixar’s Wall-E and Steven Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence). Younger audiences will likely fall for its adventure and science fiction aspects, while adults will take to its deep and nuanced examination of love; astonishingly, neither demographic will be left wanting. The thoughtfully-crafted, Studio Ghibli-influenced score is delightful and heartfelt — superbly orchestrated for a small orchestra of mostly string players — and its refreshing gentleness invariably put a smile on my face and/or nudged me to the brink of tears. The end result is an utterly charming and moving musical that I hope has some serious staying power.

Michael Arden once again proves whey he’s one of our very finest stage directors, outdoing himself here with an intimate yet ambitiously cinematic staging that’s one of the production’s main assets. With only a cast of four to work with, he’s somehow conjured worlds within worlds, and the way that he incorporates cutting-edge multimedia elements not only feels natural and seamless, but also necessary to the story, enhancing the drama at hand (my only minor quibble is that the musical could have benefitted from the inclusion of an intermission). Darren Criss gives a disarming, technically meticulous performance. It’s a performance of note and a definite step forward for the popular actor. His co-star Helen J Shen is just as beguiling in her own way, giving a sweet but endearingly sassy performance as a more advanced (i.e., wise) Helperbot model that nudges the story forward (also, both Marcus Choi and Dez Duron are effective in their supporting turns).

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

MAYBE HAPPY ENDING
Broadway, Musical
Belasco Theatre
1 hour, 45 minutes (without an intermission)
Open run