Video: Darren Criss Explains the Art of Playing a Robot in MAYBE HAPPY ENDING
The hit musical has received 10 Tony nominations.
By: Josh Sharpe May. 13, 2025
With two Tony nominations for his work in Maybe Happy Ending, Darren Criss visited CBS Mornings to discuss this honor and the critical acclaim the show has received since its debut in 2024.
"[When attending a Broadway musical], you want to see some kind of spectacle, hopefully have some good music, and hopefully be moved to some degree," Criss explained, noting that Maybe Happy Ending checks all of those boxes. "I think this show rewards that. In a day and age where we know everything everywhere all at once on our phones, it's nice to genuinely be able to discover something new..."
As for how Criss is able to capture the essence of a robot in this performance, the actor said, "You want to telegraph immediately to an audience that this is not a human being" by employing physicalities and characterizations that can be identified as nonhuman. "But, by the end of the show, we get to tell the audience that this is, in fact, all of us." Watch the full interview with Criss now.
Maybe Happy Ending stars Darren Criss and Helen J Shen with music by Will Aronson, lyrics by Hue Park, book by both Aronson and Park, and direction by Tony Award-winner Michael Arden. The cast also includes Steven Huynh, Hannah Kevitt, Daniel May, and Christopher James Tamayo.
Inside a one-room apartment on the outskirts of Seoul, Oliver (Criss) lives a happily quiet life listening to jazz records and caring for his favorite plant. But what else is there to do when you’re a HelperBot 3, a robot that has long been retired and considered obsolete? When his fellow HelperBot neighbor Claire (Shen) asks to borrow his charger, what starts as an awkward encounter leads to a unique friendship, a surprising adventure, and maybe even...love?
Nominated for 10 Tony Awards and winner of the Richard Rodgers Award, Maybe Happy Ending is the offbeat and captivating story of two outcasts near the end of their warranty who discover that even robots can be swept off their feet. Helmed by visionary director and Tony Award winner Michael Arden (Parade, Once on This Island), with a dazzling scenic design by Dane Laffrey (A Christmas Carol) and book, music, and lyrics by the internationally acclaimed duo Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending is a fresh, original musical about the small things that make any life worth living.
Maybe Happy Ending was written in both Korean and English-language versions. The Korean-language version opened in December of 2016 at DaeMyung Culture Factory in Seoul and subsequently won six Korean Musical Awards including Best Musical. The English-language version was awarded the 2017 Richard Rodgers Production Award and had its U.S. premiere at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta in the 2019-2020 season under the direction of Michael Arden.
