A new Broadway musical about people in love? OK. A new Broadway musical about robot lovers? I do not think so. That’s what I was afraid of when I came nervously to the Belasco Theater to see it Maybe a Happy Ending and I’m constantly blown away by the best, most beautiful, innovative and original music I’ve seen in what feels like eons. To quote Alan Jay Lerner’s words “I could have Danced All Night” on My Fair Lady:
I don’t know what made it so exciting
Why at that moment my heart flew…
But I’m in love Maybe a Happy Ending. If you care about magic I think you will too.
Darren Criss, a strong and confident young actor burst onto the television scene as a sexually confused killer in a mini TV series. The Assassination of Gianni Versace and won an Emmy, Golden Globe, Critic’s Choice and SAG award for it, he makes a triumphant return to the New York stage as Oliver, a handsome Helperbot who has voluntarily “retired” from work and given a small but cozy apartment in Korea. where he spends his days tending to his only companion, a dying plant, and listening to his favorite jazz records by Duke Ellington and Chet Baker. One day he is startled by a disturbing and inaudible knock on the door of a neighbor across the hall named Claire (Helen J. Shen, making her Broadway debut). Oliver is Helperbot 3, which means the earlier version has a longer shelf life, while Claire is an improved, updated Helperbot 5, which means she can do more things and transmit more information, but her structure wears out quickly (you know, like new electronics, we know from experience, they are never as good as older models). Now Claire’s battery is dying and she needs to borrow Oliver’s battery charger.
They are wary at first, because no robot has ever known—especially he kissed—another robot, but as Oliver and Claire get to know each other, he teaches her to appreciate the intricacies of jazz, shares her love of fireflies, and they join forces on a journey to reconnect with their original owners because Oliver can hear it. it will help him regain his purpose since that is what he was created for. Claire is very intelligent but she leaves the world sooner than she planned. They came armed with new devices such as paper cup phones, hard drives and passwords. But the more human they become, the closer they get to the feelings of pain, loss and love. “Everything must come to an end,” Claire sings in one of the most haunting and memorable songs, “living with people has taught me this.” It is better not to say anything about the plot. Passing on to find out what happens next is one of the show’s saddest take-home awards. There was nothing they hoped for, but they found the best in each other. Maybe love will help them survive, without wi-fi.
From this wrong framework, I can only tell you how impossible it is to relate the freshness, the joy and the quality that elevates all the aspects of this wonderful work of theater art. While the sultry music and lyrics of Will Aronson and Hue Park break your heart, Michael Arden’s amazing direction reaches the level of stage performance and the technical marvels of Dane Laffrey’s settings leave you in awe. There is no familiar, no “seen before” sense of the action sequence that takes place inside moving neon squares that open, shrink or expand, depending on the size and length of the scene. An invisible orchestra is played by television sets attached to the balcony. And to me, good arrangements are a rapture to hear—sweet and fun and a powerful antidote to the usual rock and roll pandemonium that pollutes so much of today’s juke box music.
Best of all, in addition to Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen, the two leading actors, the show features a fellow from Shreveport, Louisiana named Dez Deron who makes his Broadway debut as the lead actor named Gil Brently from the big opening group season. and closes the show with a vocal style that moves the action to verses that reflect the popular music that shaped the era when the Helpbots lived up to their name and reputation. This musical wonder has it all. He’s movie star good, booming like a Knockout combination of Vic Damone and Mel Torme, and I can’t wait to hear him headline a chic supper club or jazz watering hole soon. Like everything else inside Maybe a Happy Ending, you are simply exciting. I love this show and can’t wait to see it again—and again and again.
Maybe a Happy Ending | 1 hour. 45 min. There is no rest. | Belasco Theatre 111 W. 44th St. | (212) 239-6200 | Buy Tickets Here
