“You’re such a 3!”
Who in the audience doesn’t know this territory of Helperbot Claire’s absolute frustration when she makes this exclamation?
She is referring to Oliver, who is indeed a Helperbot 3, and as such is totally immune to her Helperbot 5 jab. Oliver is built for reliability, not nuance. Claire seems to forget that improvisation just isn’t a part of his programming. Oliver can give an automatic “Thank you” on repeat, summon minutiae about the smooth jazz legends his former human owner/friend taught him, rejoice at the sameness of his days and room, and bond with his plant— but thinking outside his box is just a step too far.
If Claire just didn’t need to borrow Oliver’s reliable charger every day, she’d probably just…just…
Ah! —To borrow a reference from a mid-century musical before this one— it’s just that she’s Grown Accustomed to His Face, or rather, his quirks, of which there is no shortage.
At this point in the play we are so immersed in this android love story that if Will Aronson (music) and Hue Park (lyrics) didn’t deliver another appreciative smile from us in the very next nanosecond we might think it a sag in the musical’s book. Have no worries- -there is no such lag!
MAYBE HAPPY ENDING Transports Us to a New World Where We Meet Ourselves
The audience is noisy getting into seats before the official curtain rise, making it difficult to hear the smooth jazz from the vinyl LPs that graying James is playing. Every once in a while, James gets up from his Eames easy chair to flip the album or pick a new one. Everything about him and the set says mid-century— making the magic of set panels seamlessly opening a view into Oliver’s home in a storage lot of retired Helperbots all the more captivating. Smaller than a Paris Studette, it has all the things Oliver needs— charger, chair, plant for companionship, and a growing pile of jazz magazines that a mail chute appears from above to deliver to him for a dozen years. Oliver sings about his room’s perfection (World Within My Room).
When his neighbor Claire knocks on the door desperate for a charger, their love story begins.
He’s out of wi-fi. She’s out of charge. There are no replacement parts. They are on the road to expire. Welcome to the delicious Maybe Happy Ending metaphor for how loss is built into life and all that makes life worth living.
Together they think of ways to make the end less sad and sing the title song, Maybe Happy Ending, one of the half dozen easy-to-digest duets in the score.
Dazzling Acting and Stagecraft
These are top-notch actors all—in this reviewer’s opinion, with Darren Criss as Oliver being a striking standout. Criss’ awkward movements are always there, unless he has shut himself down into a droop for the night. His timing to deliver his pre-programmed Helperbot 3 Thank you shows the mastery of the best comic actors. We didn’t know there is such a thing as robotic flair til we hear him singing. It happens so quickly, that when Criss drops his robotic demeanor as he announces his love to Claire, many in the audience loudly gasp in appreciation. SPOILER ALERT!! How delicious that Criss summons that same totally unexpected self-aware sly smile in the closing scene as he reveals how he outsmarted advanced 5 Claire.
The reveals of the Helperbots’ homes by silent fast opening portals, the video projections of memories as back stories, the emergence of a smooth jazz crooner from above or below —- these and so many set design and lighting effects simply dazzle. We even get immersed in re-living our childhood wonder of lightening bugs, replete with a carousel of accompanying musicians to underline how we are in a magical moment.
There’s no maybe about it, in this writer’s view. Expect to leave the theater feeling totally elated and relishing this musical’s happy ending, happy middle and happy beginning.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
WHEN:
November 12, 2024
Open Run
WHERE:
Belasco Theatre
111 West 44th Street
Between 6th and 7th Avenue
New York, NY 10036
CAST:
Darren Criss (American Buffalo, Little Shop of Horrors, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”), Helen J Shen (The Lonely Few, Teeth) Dez Duron (NBC’s “The Voice”) and Marcus Choi (Wicked, Flower Drum Song). The cast also includes: Steven Huynh (“Blue Bloods”, CBS); Hannah Kevitt (Back to the Future, Broadway), Daniel May (Flower Drum Song, Broadway; Soft Power, Signature Theatre) and Christopher James Tamayo (Les Miserables, National Tour) who round out the production as the understudies.
CREATIVE TEAM:
By WILL ARONSON and HUE PARK
Directed by MICHAEL ARDEN
Dane Laffrey (A Christmas Carol, Once on This Island) designed the Set and Additional Video, while Costume Design is by Tony Award-winner Clint Ramos (KPOP, Eclipsed), Lighting Design is by Tony Award-nominee Ben Stanton (A Christmas Carol, Fun Home), Sound Design is by Tony Award-winner Peter Hylenski (Moulin Rouge!: The Musical, Beetlejuice), Video Design by George Reeve (Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, UK), Deborah Abramson (The Gardens of Anuncia) is the Music Supervisor and John Yun is the Music Director. Casting is by Telsey & Co, Craig Burns, CSA and Justin Scribner is the Production Stage Manager.
Photos: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman
About the Author: Amy Munice
Amy Munice is Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher of Picture This Post. She covers books, dance, film, theater, music, museums and travel. Prior to founding Picture This Post, Amy was a freelance writer and global PR specialist for decades—writing and ghostwriting thousands of articles and promotional communications on a wide range of technical and not-so-technical topics.
