Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen (Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman)
Reviewed by Amanda L. Andrei
Belasco Theatre (New York City)
Through September 7
RECOMMENDED
Think back to your first love. That electric giddiness. The charged moments of seeing them. The charge building despite — maybe because of—being apart. How is it possible to feel so alive?
Will Aronson and Hue Park’s astonishing new musical Maybe Happy Ending brings to life these feelings and more in a near future Seoul, Korea, where Oliver and Claire, two “helper bots” rendered obsolete, strive to fulfill their programmed purposes despite aging hardware and owner abandonment. Along the way, they fall in love.
It’s a premise that offers a refreshing East Asian perspective of robots and artificial intelligence as warm, competent, and part of a greater experience of being alive that expands beyond humans. South Korea already has the highest density of robots in the world, working not only at manufacturing and industrial sites, but also at hotels and restaurants as staff. With a reality like this, the jump to Maybe Happy Ending’s personal helper bots — taking on not only servant or companion positions, but bordering roles of adopted child or potential lover—is not far off.
Highlighting the goofiness of new love in all its clumsy tenderness, Michael Arden’s direction sparkles as the two androids meet — and spar — in the HelperBots Yards, an apartment complex for retired robots. Darren Criss is fabulous as Oliver, the older “3 model” bot — the uncanny precision of his robotic movement layered with sweetness and innocent vulnerability that is crush-inducing. Helen J. Shen is vivacious and valiant as the newer, more humanlike (yet less durable) 5 model bot Claire, who convinces Oliver—in spite of their initial antagonism — to road trip to Jeju Island before her battery deteriorates for good. Their chemistry is palpable, especially in the “The Rainy Day We Met,” a duet bubbling with humor and romance, as well as the tender orchestral “Never Fly Away.”
As James (Oliver’s owner and friend), James’ son, and various other characters, Marcus Choi displays versatility, humor, and plenty of heart. And Dez Duron as Gil Brentley, the favorite jazz musician of both Oliver and James, provides a nostalgic and playful otherworldly presence to the lovers’ journey. His voice soars in the brass-backed anthem “Jenny” and wraps the robots in a crooning warmth with the “Why Love” number and reprise.
Designed by Dane Laffrey, the set impressively shifts between apartments, cityscapes, and forests, with cinematic screens imparting a K-drama touch. Video design from Laffrey and George Reeve further highlight the digital nature of this futuristic world, while also revealing the ephemerality of memory. Both Suki Tsujimoto’s meticulously detailed makeup design, evoking plasticity and blushing skin, and Clint Ramos’s high-waisted hipster-inspired costumes provide a sleekness that feels grounded in the headiness of love and innovation.
One of the features of this show that I find so remarkable is that it has been produced in Korean and English—its world premiere was in Seoul in 2016. Since then, Maybe Happy Ending has been staged in both Seoul and Japan, with its American debut in Atlanta in 2020 and additional stagings in Asia prior to its Broadway debut last year. At a time when fears of technocracy run rampant in the U.S., twin productions of a play with this perspective are a gift of optimism.
What could we learn, watching humans play robots? Could it be that these technological creations, these shells created to help and serve us, could actually be containers for rediscovering the world anew, for seeing human idiosyncrasies with delight and embracing our awkwardness as a feature and not a bug? Love, then, is not merely human. It grows of its own accord between beings who are willing and open enough to receive it. No matter what happens to humans or robots, when our life force inevitably drains away, one thing is sure. Love endures.
Belasco Theatre, 111 W 44th St, New York, NY., check website for schedule. https://www.maybehappyending.com/ Running time: 100 minutes with no intermission.
