Interview: Claire Kwon of MAYBE HAPPY ENDING at Fisher Theatre

I had the great pleasure to speak with the star of Maybe Happy Ending, Claire Kwon. Claire Kwon dives deep into her role as everyone's favorite Helperbot 5, also named Claire. Please enjoy our conversation and I implore everyone to check out Maybe Happy Ending at the Fisher theatre. This cast has some amazingly talented performers. Maybe Happy Ending is unlike any other musical and trust me when I say you will see a show that you will telling all your friends and family to go see.  

 Broadway World: You started your journey with Maybe Happy Ending as a Standby in the Broadway production. Can you tell me what that experience was like?
Claire Kwon: It was very unexpected. I was doing another show at the time and I knew right away that I wanted to be a part of Maybe Happy Ending. They started looking for a second stand-by and I got the offer. I got extended through the Tonys and was lucky enough to see the Tony campaign and it was an exciting process.

BW: How many times did you get to perform on Broadway?
CK: I was very lucky and got to do a residency, essentially, in April and May for about 6 weeks this year.

BW: Did you get to perform with Darren Criss?
CK: Yes! I got to perform with all the Olivers, but I worked with Darren the most and that was such an honor!

BW: Since you were basically with the original Broadway cast I’m sure you got to work with a lot of the creative team behind maybe happy ending. Did you get to work with them a lot? What was it like being with a show basically from the beginning?

CK: Yes, I was really lucky that with this tour we got to work with Michael (Director) and Emilio (AD) and Justin (Production stage manager) and Will (writer) was really involved in the tour rehearsal. Shoutout to our music supervisor Debra and the whole original crew. We got to know them through being in New York but I really got to dig into the material and making small changes by working on the tour.

BW: I feel like Claire as a character is a romantic optimist trapped inside the body of someone who insists she isn’t. How did you approach that contradiction.

CK: *Laughing*  I have never felt more understood. I think my boyfriend will tell you that I am such a softie on the inside but I definitely wear the shell of a cynic. I’m a Cancer so we have a ooey gooey inside but a tough exterior and I’m very protective. You have to remember, the character Claire starts the show with a 50% battery depleted. And that’s the maximum she can charge to. She is forced to be wired to the wall and she is not as free as she has been in the past. I think that is essential to my read as Claire as a character. As we follow her journey in the show we see she’s able to open up and see why she was so enchanted by love in the first place. You see in the show why she has built that hard shell and why she wants to take care of Oliver. I think all the hardness and toughness comes from her because she cares so much. I think her journey is a very human one.

BW: Do you have a scene that you really love to perform?
CK: How To Be Not Alone has quickly become one of my favorites. It really captures the searching and curiosity of being really present to the experience of caring about a person and the intricacies of caring about someone. Everyone who has ever loved someone knows it’s not always easy and it’s forgiving because we have all gone through it. We understand the beauty and what it feels like to be connected to a person.

BW: Is there a scene that you’re not in that you love to listen to or even watch back stage that really moves you?
CK: The scene between Junseo and Oliver. I am in the scene but just mostly observing when they just met. When Steven (Oliver) and James (Junseo) meet they do a really good job of just being present and being in the scene and discovering as we go. The intricacies of a human meeting a robot and the circumstances in which they are meeting with the history they share. The audience gets to experience this with us and it’s really interesting to hear the audience react to this scene because we are all in it together. The frustration and excitement and fear of the scene is very palpable and very real and very tragic. They do such a great job with that.

BW: What do you think that Claire learns from Oliver that she couldn’t have learned from anymore else?
CK: Oliver is very pure. In the beginning she sees that as a weakness. But throughout the show she sees that that purity and joy and undying care and love and dedication to another is all that we have. She learned that through the show. Life hardens and challenges us and that is important to our growth but what is equally important is the softness and tenderness and the reason that hurts is because we care. There is value in that kind of care.

BW: There is something beautifully unexpected about Claire and Oliver. What do you hope the audience takes away from seeing their relationship bloom?
CK: I hope that they take away that we are all Claire and Oliver. I think they are very human in their fears and insecurities and values. I hope the audience feels they can take the same kind of journey that they took and learn from each other. We are all able to connect in unexpected ways and to be open to being less scared and take more chances.

BW: If you had to give an elevator pitch for Maybe Happy ending to entice people to buy tickets what would you say?
CK: I would say that it is visually stunning and like nothing you have seen before. It is laugh your pants off funny in unexpected ways and it will probably make you shed some tears through it’s beauty and make you hug the person next to you just a little closer.

I couldn’t have said it better myself! You can see Claire Kwon and the cast of Maybe Happy Ending at the Fisher theatre now through November 1st. Get your tickets here!

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Maybe Happy Ending

10/20 - 11/1/2026

SIX (Boleyn Tour)

11/3 - 11/8/2026

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