d-criss-news

[d-criss-news]

'Maybe Happy Ending' is a hit new musical about love in the digital age | Morning Joe

The new Broadway musical 'Maybe Happy Ending' is set in the future and focuses on two human-like robots that have become outdated in the modern world. Actor Darren Criss stars in the production and joins Morning Joe to discuss along with director Michael Arden.

[d-criss-news]

Via Michael Livsey's Instagram Story (November 21st, 2024)

[d-criss-news]

yadownwithrmm: These three helperbots had a delightful chat about @ maybehappyending — aka the best new musical on Broadway that you all should be seeing NOW. Sad that @thereal_hwaboon couldn’t join (diva?). Link to the full video in stories! 🤖🪴🎶❤️

[d-criss-news]

Darren Criss and Michael Arden will be on the MSNBC's “Morning Joe" on Thursday, November 21st, 2024

[d-criss-news]

x x x x x x x x | Maybe Happy Ending (November 20th, 2024)

[d-criss-news]

Via Dez Duron's Instagram Story (November 21st, 2024)

[d-criss-news]

Via Helen J Shen's Instagram Story (November 20th, 2024)

[d-criss-news]

Darren Criss on Bringing Robot Love to Broadway With ‘Maybe Happy Ending’

Chances are the multi-talented Darren Criss is as cross-eyed as the rest of us are with the twists and turns his career has taken over the past 13 years. In 2009, he began in television with six years of Glee, playing the lead singer of the Warblers, and helping power a Warblers focused soundtrack album to Number 2 on the Billboard album chart. Then in 2018 he switched fromsinging to spree killing, giving a stunning, steel-plated performance as Andrew Cunanan in Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace. That got him a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy and set people to thinking there might be a serious actor lurking inside that singer.

Before that could be settled, the singer reemerged, as a replacement in a Broadway revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, raking in $4 million during his three weeks. That was followed with an Off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors at the Westside Theater and a stint in Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Belasco Theater.

Two years ago, the actor was back when producer Jeffrey Richards hired him for some deep-dish David Mamet drama, American Buffalo. Now Richardshas returned Criss to the Belasco, and singing, for an original Broadway musical, Maybe Happy Ending—a very original musical, in that it’s about the love life of robots in Seoul circa 2064.

You’ll not find much of that Glee guy you know and love in the character Criss plays in Maybe Happy Ending, a lonely Helperbot robot who putters aimlessly about his tiny apartment, listens to jazz and devotes all his TLC to a favorite pot plant. That changes swiftly when a female form of Helperbot, Claire (Helen J Shen), drops by to borrow his charger. Sparks fly, then conversation, and inevitably a kind of amorous connection.

Despite the nuts and bolts, what we have here is basically a rom-com, with a charming book and score by a couple of NYU classmates.

Actually, there are two books and two scores, one in English, one in Korean. Will Aronson, 43, of New Haven, composed the music, and Hue Park, 41 of South Korea wrote the lyrics. Once they did that, they put their heads together and wrote “connecting tissue”—a play in praise of love’s rejuvenating effects. Even robots at the end of their warranty are susceptible.

Evidently, Hue won the toss because the Korean version premiered first—in Seoul, where the story is set—and proved to be such a success that stateside productions were put together. The English edition made its first U.S. appearance two years ago at Atlanta’s Alliance Theater, where The New York Times’ Jesse Green deemed it “Broadway-ready.” Thus, we now have a live-action robot show going strong on West 44th.

The terror of doing this kind of production, Criss confesses, is that actors are afraid they’ll look like cartoons of their character, taking big, blocky robot steps around the stage. “The show has no listed choreographer,” he tells Observer. But he feels he has that situation well in hand. He and director Michael Arden “have taken a particular interest in making sure the physicality is distinct,” he says. “And I’d be remiss not to mention  a teacher at Juilliard, Moni Yakim, who had some Zoom discussion with us about this.

“It’s kind of a cocktail of those three things: Moni’s suggestions, Michael’s pursuit of perfection and my own interest in physical theater. It’s a skill set that I’ve never been able to utilize—at least to this level. When I was in college, I took a semester off so that I could study physical theater at the Accademia dell’Arte, the performing arts school in Arezzo, Italy.”

A cast of four inhabit the show: Dez Duron, Marcus Choi, Criss, and Shen. You may detect a little kinetic energy between Criss and Shen. That’s because they both attended the University of Michigan—albeit, not at the same time. “She graduated about two seconds ago, and I may have graduated a little longer ago than that,” concedes Criss.

“She graduated two years ago, and 10 years ago my name was up on the marquee at the Belasco Theater. And to be able to come back to the Belasco—but this time to share that billing with a fellow Michigan grad—is a very special moment for me. I’m now the upper-class man to the freshman of Helen J Shen. This is her Broadway debut. It’s a big moment for her, and getting to see her through that on stage—to call that a job is really a special thing for me.”

The enthusiasm Criss brings to the stage is practically palpable—and he still remembers where it came from: encountering Robin Williams at an impressionably early age in the 1992 animated Disney flick, Aladdin, in which his outrageous Genie-jiving was almost heart-stoppingly hilarious.

“I was probably six or seven—and I noticed how this audience connected with each other and with this Genie on the screen. I was very taken with that idea, and I wanted to give people what this Genie was giving them. Then, I found out the voice of that Genie was Robin Williams, who was such a prominent figure out in San Francisco, where I grew up. That made it an accessible concept: ’Oh, Mr. Williams is an actor. I’d like to be an actor, too.’ So I hopped right on it.”

[d-criss-news]

x | Maybe Happy Ending (November 19th, 2024)

[d-criss-news]

x x x x x x x x x | Maybe Happy Ending (November 19th, 2024)

[d-criss-news]

Via Dez Duron's Instagram Story (November 19th, 2024)

[d-criss-news]

canadianlinz: I’m sure someone actually got a way better vid than whatever this is that I filmed, but in case not, here’s Darren Criss’ speech from tonight at Maybe Happy Ending about Broadway Cares Red Bucket campaign.

[d-criss-news]

I'm Michael Arden, Director of Maybe Happy Ending. Ask Me Anything! 🪴

Hi helperbots! Ask me anything! I'll be answering your questions here for about an hour. Thank you for showing Maybe Happy Ending so much love! Proof it's me above!

[d-criss-news]

First Look: Darren Criss and Helen J Shen in Maybe Happy Ending on Broadway

[d-criss-news]

newyorktheatreguide: Dinner and a show make the perfect pair, so the cast of the romantic comedy musical “Maybe Happy Ending” shared their favorite restaurants and bars in the Theatre District. Learn more about their picks and get tickets to this critically acclaimed new Broadway show at the link in bio!

#darrencriss #helenjshen #maybehappyending #broadway #broadwayshow #broadwayshows #broadwaytheatre #newyork #newyorktheatre #nyc #newyorkcity #broadwaytickets #theatre #musicaltheatre #musical #musicals #broadwaymusical #broadwaymusicals #romcom #romanticcomedy #musicalcomedy #theatredistrict #nyceats #nyceeeeeats #wheretoeatnyc #wheretoeatinnyc #newyorkcityeats

[d-criss-news]

darrencriss: A week after we’ve officially opened on Broadway, it’s incredibly encouraging that folks outside our @ maybehappyending family are now experiencing the magic we’ve been dazzled by for months now, and I’m beyond thrilled that so many people with pens and platforms have gotten the word out so we can keep our little light on as bright and as long as we can, in the hope that many more people can share in it as well. Very grateful to these writers’ words, and very grateful to be part of this extraordinary and singular piece.

[d-criss-news]

francislibiran: MEGA Man (@megaman_magazine) highlights why Darren Criss (@ darrencriss) always turns to Francis Libiran, his favorite global Filipino fashion designer, for his life’s most significant moments, calling their partnership a testament to shared culture and artistry.

At the recent premiere of his Broadway musical, Darren Criss once again took center stage as the muse, with Francis Libiran crafting a design that epitomizes timeless collaboration.

#FrancisLibiran #DarrenCriss #MAYBEHAPPYENDING #Broadway #FrancisLibiranBespoke #FrancisLibiranBarong