Review: Maybe Happy Ending With Darren Criss and Helen J Shen, a Balm for Trying Times

When a theater reviewer uses the word “sweet” or any of its synonyms, it’s most often in a derogatory way. The book is saccharine. The score is treacly. But sweetness isn’t always a bad thing, especially when it’s being deployed correctly. Like it is at the Belasco Theatre, where a sweet little musical about two Korean robot servants who fall in love is going to make you breathe easy for two hours.

Written by Hue Park (book and lyrics) and Will Aronson (book, lyrics, and music), Maybe Happy Ending takes place within a robot senior citizen complex in Seoul, Korea, sometime in “the near future.” There, a retired “Helperbot” can live out its days of redundancy until its batteries finally die or they run out of fixes for malfunctioning parts. Criss plays Oliver, a “Helperbot 3,” long obsolete but sturdy for an older edition, who was deposited in the one-room apartment by former owner James (Marcus Choi). The modestly sentient Oliver spends his time listening to jazz records by the likes of Gil Brentley (Dez Duron) and talking to his plant, HwaBoon (the floral version of Wilson from Castaway, whose name translates to Flowerpot).

After 12 years, Oliver’s quiet life is interrupted by a knock on the door from his across-the-hall neighbor Claire (Helen J Shen). Claire is a “Helperbot 5,” more aesthetically humanoid but less durable, and she needs to borrow Oliver’s charger. Both Oliver and Claire are on the road to planned obsolescence, and that, of course, is when they inadvertently fall in love while on a journey to return Oliver to his former companion.

Yes, it’s fairly predictable. The second Oliver starts talking about how James will eventually come pick him up, you know his dream will eventually be crushed, the same way that you know that Annie is never going to find her birth parents. But it’s not the destination, it’s the journey. And this journey is just very charming, thanks to two writers who’ve crafted a wholesome and believably human(oid) story and a pair of evenly matched stars who are impossible to hate.

From his stiffly humorous movement (choreographed by Moni Yakim) to the unblinking sincerity in his delivery, Criss is immensely impressive as he captures the discreetly emotional essence of this outdated bot. His tightly coiffed hair (styled by Craig Franklin Miller) and shellacked makeup (Suki Tsujimoto) go a long way in helping him bring us to an uncanny valley that’s legitimately freaky. Shen is effortlessly charming, infusing Claire with a shy humor that makes her utterly lovable. Together, they share such easy chemistry that you find yourself rooting for these two lonely robots to be together forever.

Michael Arden’s high-tech staging works its robot butt off to bring the futuristic setting to life. Dane Laffrey’s gliding set pieces evoke the sleek but rundown atmosphere of Oliver and Claire’s world, but they’re so noisy you can always tell when they’re coming. Ben Stanton’s lighting adds a Jetsons-like glow, while George Reeve’s elaborate video projections transport us to another dimension. Essentially a two-character musical that you could put together modestly, nothing about the show is screaming to be as large as Arden’s production is, but it’s thrilling to see a Broadway budget being put to good use. You certainly know where your money has gone.

As for the songs, they’re pleasant in the Falsettos-era William Finn vein, but Aronson and Park’s score lacks that one standout, soaring-to-the-rafters number to break out of the haze and give the score a defining melody. Vocally, Criss is steady, but he doesn’t ascend either, especially compared to the velvety Duron, who floats in and out with songs that comment on the action. Book-wise, they could probably use another rework to smooth out a handful of issues; namely, Maybe Happy Ending has several different ones, including a moment midway through the show when the central conflict is fully resolved. The final product feels as if it were excerpted from a longer narrative and then pared down to its current 110-minute, no intermission, state.

Despite its flaws, Maybe Happy Ending exudes an undeniable charm and warmth, which sets it apart from many other new Broadway musicals these days that go for bombast over emotion. Refreshingly original, this story about two robots who, for a brief moment, meet each other halfway, becomes a poignant celebration of finding connections in an ephemeral world. It’s a comforting reminder that love and friendship, however temporary, make the journey worthwhile.