Maybe Happy Ending

Maybe Happy Ending (Korean: 어쩌면 해피엔딩; RR: eojjeomyeon haepiending; lit. "Maybe a happy ending") is an original South Korean one-act musical with lyrics written by Hue Park, music composed by Will Aronson, and book written by both Park and Aronson. The musical follows two life-like helper-bots, Oliver and Claire, who discover each other in Seoul in the late 21st century and develop a connection that challenges what they believe is possible for themselves, relationships, and love.
Directed by Kim Dong-yeon, Maybe Happy Ending held its world premiere in Seoul at Lifeway Hall in DCF Daemyung Cultural Factory in 2016 to critical acclaim, and has since been revived numerous times locally and received productions internationally, with a Broadway production opening in 2024.
At the 2nd Korean Musical Awards, it was nominated for six awards and won for all nominations, which included Best Musical, Best Director, Best Music, Lyrics and Book. The musical also won four awards at the 6th Yegreen Musical Awards including Musical of the Year Award, Music Award (Will Aronson), Directing Award (Kim Dong-yeon) and Female Popularity Award (Jeon Mi-do).
A film adaptation entitled My Favorite Love Story premiered in 2023 and has yet to be released into theaters.
In 2014, Hue Park was sitting in a coffee shop in Brooklyn where he heard the song "Everyday Robots" by Damon Albarn (front man of the rock bands Blur and Gorillaz) playing. Park was familiar with Blur, as it had been popular in South Korea while he was growing up there in the 1990s. Part of the song lyrics caught his attention: 'We are everyday robots in the process of getting home.' Park suddenly imagined a world inhabited by 'robots that look just like humans', eventually thinking up a scene where 'robots with human-like appearances and emotions are abandoned and live lonely lives alone'.
Park had recently ended a long-term relationship, so he thought about the closing of a chapter in his life. "I experienced some losses with people around me – parting and death – when I was writing the play," said Hue. "I realized that love is an act to open your heart even though you expect to feel the pain of loss one day." Park sent an email to his friend Will Aronson. Aronson was intrigued about Hue's ideas and they eventually started to write the story together.
The musical is set in the not-too-distant future Seoul Metropolitan Area. Oliver and Claire are helper robots that look completely human-like, created to help people, but were abandoned by their owners and now live in an apartment where abandoned helper bots live. Like old-model cellphones in a desk drawer, they end their lifespans away from their owners' attention. Oliver is a Helperbot-5 (3 in the English version) that lacks many functions compared to its newer iterations and has a native design, but is durable and sturdy, while Claire is a Helperbot-6 (5 in the English version) that consumes a lot of battery and has a lot of troubles despite its various functions and designs. Oliver has no sociability, only growing flowers at home and listening to old jazz on LPs.
The futuristic subject of 'the daily life of helper-robots in the 21st century' is contrast with analog sensibility through acoustic jazz melodies. This musical harmonizes delicate scripts, jazz and classical music, warm directing, and solid performances by actors. It makes us look back on the meaning of intimacy and the value of love.
Oliver, a male Helperbot-3 model, begins his daily routine while listening to jazz music ("Why We Loved"). Oliver has been staying in an apartment for abandoned helperbots for ten years, thinking that his old owner, James, would come back to pick him up as he promised ("In My Room"). One day Claire, a female Helperbot-5 model and one of his neighbors, knocks on his door asking to borrow his charger, as hers is broken. Oliver tries to ignore her, but after noticing her powered down outside he reluctantly brings her in and makes an adaptor clasp so she can use his charger. Claire soon wakes and tries to thank him, but Oliver argues with her over the differences between 3s and 5s, eventually kicking her out when she points out it matters little since they are both retired models. Claire tries to fix her charger herself, with little success. She also tries calling her other friends, but they are all too busy to help ("It's Not The End"). Eventually, Oliver reaches out and offers to let her borrow his portable charger if she comes at specific times each day to drop it off and pick it up. Claire accepts and begins going to his house twice a day. This becomes routine until the end of the week when Claire does not show up one day, which worries Oliver. He goes to her apartment only to find her with her friend John, a Helperbot-7, who has fixed her charger. Oliver, annoyed, goes back to his own apartment, but Claire comes to visit later that day with flowers to thank him for letting her borrow the charger. While in his apartment, she learns that Oliver has been collecting money through bottle deposits, which he admits he is doing so that he can go to Jeju Island to reunite with James, who allegedly lives there now ("Thank You, Oliver"). Claire offers to help him get to Jeju Island, as it is summertime and thus one of the best times to see the nearly-extinct fireflies, which only exist on the island. Oliver reluctantly accepts, and they begin preparing ("Good Luck, Part 1", "Goodbye, My Room", "Good Luck, Part II"). It's illegal for robots produced before the year 2044 to drive, so to avoid being caught, they plan to pretend to be a human couple going on a holiday. Following some slight disagreements, they finally make up a believable story for how they first met ("My Favorite Love Story").
They arrive at a motel to stop and charge, where Claire easily helps them get past the hotel staff and into their room without being discovered ("Old Love Songs" / "Jenny"). After switching through a few channels, they land on a channel playing the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day. While watching, Oliver pokes fun at how people used to think of robots and begins imitating the robots from the film. Claire, enjoying Oliver's antics, realizes that it might not be that bad being stuck with him ("More Than You Think, More Than You Think"). The following day, they set off once again. While on the road, Claire tells Oliver to promise that he won't fall in love with her, which he laughs at and says that she should be the one promising. Claire takes it seriously and makes the promise, which Oliver is taken aback by and decides to make it too. ("Driving"). Soon, they arrive at James' house. Claire attempts to stop Oliver from entering, pleading with him not to go as she's afraid he'll get hurt based on her past experience with her former owners, a couple, at which she learned that human hearts change ("What I Learned From People"). Oliver accuses her of jealousy and heads in, but walks out shortly after. He sadly reveals James had actually died the year before and his family has no need for an old Helperbot-5, having their own newer Helperbots. James had tried to get in touch with Oliver before, but was unable to find his address, and so left him an LP record of him playing piano in case Oliver ever tracked him down. Claire admits to Oliver she was wrong about James, as she has never seen an owner care enough about a Helperbot to leave them a gift. Thinking about this, Oliver listens to the record, remembering the times James would play piano for him ("Why We Loved" Piano Solo). Though still upset, he decides they should go see the fireflies. They walk deeper and deeper into the forest, and slowly they start to appear ("Fireflies In Jeju (Instrumental)"); they both jump up and down in excitement and even manage to catch one, which they put into a jar ("To The Fireflies").
They return to Seoul but feel something is different between them. They can't stop thinking about each other and slowly realize that they've fallen in love with each other ("When You're in Love"). They quickly rush out of their rooms and apologize to each other for breaking the promise, before sharing a tentative kiss ("Touch Sequence (Instrumental)"). Afterwards, they spend many happy days together holding hands while charging and trying to do what they think a human couple would do, even attempting to have a fight ("First Time In Love"). Over time, however, they notice that Claire's parts are starting to malfunction, prompting Claire to admit she only has about a year of full functionality. After initially trying to push through it ("Nevertheless") eventually it becomes too much and they end the relationship hoping to spare each other the pain. Oliver tries to forget about Claire ("In My Room (Reprise)" & "Goodbye, My Room (Reprise)"), but the both of them soon realize they cannot and decide the only way they can move on is to erase their memories of each other ("You Can Remember That"). However, Claire offers to Oliver that he can keep the memory of her telling him not to move his potted plant away from the sun, which occurred during their first visit. They both get rid of things that would remind them of the other, and seemingly erase their memories ("Erasure Sequence (Instrumental)").
Sometime later, Oliver wakes up and begins his daily routine as usual ("Why We Loved (Reprise)"), only to be interrupted by Claire knocking on his door once more asking to borrow his charger. He hesitantly lets her in and whispers to his plant not to tell her anything. Claire points out she is a different model than Oliver and claims their charges are incompatible, prompting Oliver to dig through his belongings and reveal the clasp he had made for her. Claire asks if everything will be alright, and Oliver replies that maybe it will. ("Finale")
Oliver, a male Helperbot-3 model, powers on in his apartment in Helperbot Yards, a living facility in Seoul for retired Helperbots. He greets his potted plant HwaBoon and begins his daily routine while listening to a song by jazz singer Gil Brentley ("Why Love?"). Oliver goes through the cycle of listening to music, caring for HwaBoon, and receiving his regular Jazz Monthly magazine and replacement parts, all while awaiting the return of his owner James ("World Within My Room"). One day Claire, a female Helperbot-5 model and one of his neighbors, knocks on his door to ask for help as her charger is broken. Oliver reluctantly gives her his charger, but insults her by bragging about the superior durability of the Helperbot-3s to the newer Helperbot-5s. Offended, Claire goes back to her room to attempt to fix her charger herself, to little success. She reaches out to her friends but they are unable to help due to their own maintenance issues ("The Way That It Has to Be"). Eventually, Oliver offers to let her use his charger if she sticks to a fixed schedule of picking it up and returning it. Claire agrees, and the exchange becomes a routine for the two of them ("Charger Exchange Ballet"). One day, Claire is late to pick up the charger, prompting a worried Oliver to go to her apartment to check on her. Claire reveals she has jury-rigged an external power supply to charge her, and thus no longer needs Oliver's charger. He leaves, denying any concern and claiming he is thankful that he will not have to deal with her anymore. Claire runs a diagnostic and learns that her battery life is failing. Later, she visits Oliver's place to thank him and discovers he has been collecting money through bottle deposits so that he can travel to Jeju Island to reunite with James ("Where You Belong"). Claire expresses interest in also going to Jeju Island, as it is the only place left in the world to see fireflies. She proposes they go together using her car. Oliver accepts and they prepare for their trip ("Hitting the Road, Part 1", "Goodbye, My Room", "Hitting the Road, Part 2"). As it is illegal for retired Helperbots to go out in public on their own, they plan to pretend they are a human couple on holiday, and come up with a believable story of how they first met ("The Rainy Day We Met"). The situation reminds Claire of her owners, the married couple Jiyeon and Suhan.
Claire starts to run out of battery as they drive to the ferry so they stop to charge at a motel, which turns out to be a love hotel. The pair book a room for the night without being discovered, despite awkward conversations with the motel owner and another guest ("Jenny"). While in the room they bond over watching the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day and mocking its depiction of robots ("How to Be Not Alone"). While Oliver is powered down, Claire accesses his memories, learning that James' move to Jeju Island was meant to be permanent, as was his leaving Oliver, and that James had avoided telling Oliver the truth for fear of hurting him. The following day, they set off once again. While on the road, Claire tells Oliver to promise that he won't fall in love with her ("Hitting the Road, Part 3"). When they arrive at James' house on Jeju Island, Claire attempts to stop Oliver from entering, trying to warn him that James may have changed and will break Oliver's heart ("What I Learned From People"). She forces Oliver to view her own memories of Jiyeon leaving her: Jiyeon had gifted Claire her administrative password so that she could access a deleted memory, revealing Suhan had made a pass at Claire due to his insecurity over his lower social status to Jiyeon, leading to the breakdown of their marriage. As Oliver protests James is different, they are interrupted by the arrival of James' son, Junseo. Junseo explains James had actually passed away some years before, having moved to Jeju so he could be taken care of after he got sick: however, Junseo, resentful of Oliver for replacing him as James' son after his parents separated, forced James to leave Oliver behind. Junseo bitterly gives Oliver a Gil Brentley record, explaining James left it for him. Oliver despondently tells Claire she was right, but she points out James actually proved her wrong by leaving a gift for Oliver, showing he truly cared about him. Though upset, Oliver suggests they go see the fireflies like Claire wanted. They walk deeper and deeper into the forest, and slowly they start to appear ("Chasing Fireflies"). The two excitedly take in the sight and even manage to catch one, which they put into a jar ("Never Fly Away").
They return to Seoul but feel something is different between them ("A Sentimental Person"). They can't stop thinking about each other and slowly realize that they've fallen in love with each other ("When You're in Love"). They quickly admit their feelings and share a kiss ("Touch Sequence (Instrumental)"). Afterwards, they spend many happy days together holding hands while charging and trying to do what they think a human couple would do, even attempting to have a fight ("Then I Can Let You Go"). Over time, however, it becomes clear that Claire's body is starting to fail her more, with her battery life continuing to drain. Claire tells Oliver she only has at most a year of functionality left, and Oliver admits due to his durability he has much longer. Hoping to spare each other the hurt, they attempt to end their relationship, but cannot stop thinking of each other ("Goodbye, My Room (Reprise)"). One day, Junseo visits Oliver, requesting some good memories of his father. While loading the memories onto a drive, the two talk about the importance of sharing happy memories with loved ones, which causes Oliver to realize he cannot simply forget Claire. Before leaving, Junseo gives Oliver his administrative password as a peace offering. With the both of them having their passwords, Oliver and Claire realize they are able to erase their memories of each other. They decide this is the best path for the both of them moving forward, but offer that it is not a tragic ending but a kind of happy ending as their experiences still occurred ("Maybe Happy Ending"). They both get rid of objects that would remind them of their past and seemingly erase their memories ("Memory Sequence (Instrumental)").
Sometime later, Oliver powers on in his apartment and greets HwaBoon before initiating his daily routine ("Why Love (Reprise)"). However, he is interrupted when Claire knocks on his door, asking to borrow his charger. He hesitantly lets her in and gives her the charger before whispering to HwaBoon, "Don't tell her." While Claire charges she makes conversation, repeating some of the prior things she had initially said to Oliver. He responds with his prior bragging about the superiority of Helperbot-3s to Helperbot-5s. After a moment, however, he admits to some advantages by listing the things Claire helped him with before. Touched, Claire asks him "do you think it’ll be okay", to which Oliver responds that he hopes so ("Finale").
Park and Aronson started the story planning in February 2014. They pitched Maybe Happy Ending to a producer at the Wooran Cultural Foundation, a nonprofit foundation in Seoul that supports young artists, which has support programs named SEEYA STUDIO, SEEYA PLAY, and SEEYA STAGE. It was accepted into the support program and by fall of 2014, it was able to be developed further. Kim Dong-yeon, who worked together with Park and Aronson in the musical Carmen, joined the project as director. Actress Jeon Mi-do and actor Jeon Uk-jin joined for a workshop performance. Maybe Happy Ending premiered at Project Box Seeya in Wooran Cultural Foundation for a three-night tryout engagement in September 2015. Tickets were sold out within 3 minutes of opening.
The show was written in both Korean and English. Both versions were performed at an industry workshop in New York City in 2016, as the first overseas development project supported by the Wooran Cultural Foundation. The English-language version of Maybe Happy Ending, then titled What I Learned From People, was awarded the 2017 Richard Rodgers Award by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
In 2016, Maybe Happy Ending was one of the musicals selected for SEEYA STAGE and the performance was held in the Daemyung Cultural Factory. It was premiered at Lifeway Hall in DCF Daemyung Cultural Factory 2nd Building on 20 December 2016, to 5 March 2017, and ran for 51 performances.
The premiere was directed by Kim Dong-yeon, who also directed the tryout performance of the work Kim expressed his aspirations, saying,
The music director was Joo Yeon-jo and sound engineer was Kwon Ji-hwi. Stage designer Nam Kyung-sik collaborated with lighting designer Lee Dong-jin. Makeup design was by Kim Min-kyung and costume design was by Doyeon. The original cast featured Jung Moon-sung, Kim Jae-bum, and Jung Uk-jin as Oliver; Jeon Mi-do and Choi Soo-jin as Claire; Ko Hoon-jung and Jong Wan-seong as James.
Hue, who also works as a freelance designer for an advertising agency in New York, designed the posters for the premiere himself. He recruited photographer Pyo Ji-sik, to capture the lyricism of the work.
The premiere performance was well received, with all tickets for the preview performance sold out after the opening, recording a 92% average occupancy rate. The tickets were sold out for 60 of a total of 97 performances, and set an unusual box office record for original musicals. The Wooran Cultural Foundation produced the original soundtrack and offered to donate the proceeds to establish a virtuous cycle in the culture and art industry. The production company, Daemyung Cultural Factory, and the creators agreed to the good cause and decided to participate in the donation.
The 'Maybe Happy Ending Concert' was performed a total of four times from 18 to 20 June at Project Box Seeya in Seoul. It was also performed at Playce Camp Jeju Spinning Wolf on the 23rd. It was organized by actors Jeon Mi-do, Jung Wook-jin, and Ko Hun-jeong, and Korean and American creative teams.
One year later, an encore performance was performed at same venue, the Lifeway Hall in DCF Daemyung Cultural Factory 2nd Building from 23 October 2017, to 12 November 2017. In this encore performance, the leads were performed by Jeon Mi-do, Go Hoon-jung, and Jeong Wook-jin, who had been together since the tryout performance, joined by Kim Jae-bum, Jung Moon-sung, Choi Su-jin, and Seong Jong-wan, who led the premiere to a box office success, all reprised their roles. The encore run was also sold out.
The Japanese premiere of Maybe Happy Ending took place at Sunshine City Theater, Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan, from 19 to 28 May 2017. This version, produced by Synthwave, featured a new cast and production team, using new direction and stage design to adapt to the local market. The production team consisted of Kim Ji-ho, a young director who led Agatha, Deathtrap, and Old Wicked Song; Park Ji-hoon, who was the music director when the Wooran Foundation developed the work; Choreographer Im Jin-ho and others.
The role of Oliver was cast with idol-actors, Choi Dong-wook (Seven), Seong-je (Supernova) and former U-KISS member Kevin (Woo Seong-hyun). Actresses Kim Bo-kyung and Song Sang-eun were double-cast as Claire, with actor Rajun playing multiple roles including James.
The musical was revived in Vivaldi Park Hall, Daemyung Cultural Factory Building 1, Seoul from 13 November 2018, to 10 February 2019. Directed by Kim Dong-yeon and music director Joo Joo-yeon. Kim Jae-beom from the premiere reprised his role as Oliver, performing alternately with three newly cast actors Moon Tae-yu, Jeon Sung-woo, and Shin Joo-hyeop. Choi Su-jin was joined by Park Ji-yeon and Kang Hye-in as Claire. Meanwhile, James were triple-cast with Sung Jong-wan, Yang Seung-ri, Kwon Dong-ho.
Due to its successful Japanese premiere and later tour in 2017, Synthwave produced a new tour which opened at the main hall of the Yokohama Pacifico Yokohama Conference Center on 3 May 2018, and played there until 6 May 2018. It was followed by performance at the Morinomiya Piroti Hall in Osaka from 10 to 13 May 2018. SE7EN, Supernova Seong-je, and Super Junior Yesung were triple-cast as Oliver. Song Sang-eun reprised her role as Claire, joined by Kim Joo-yeon. The cast also included Ra Jun and actor Kim Nam-ho as James.
In 2020, Maybe Happy Ending had its English-language debut at Coca-Cola Stage at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta and ran from 18 January until 17 February. The production was directed by Michael Arden, with Arden's husband Andy Mientus serving as associate director, joined on the creative team by Emmy Award-winning lighting designer Travis Hagenbuch and Tony Award-winning costume designer Clint Ramos. Other members of the creative team were Tony Award-nominated projection designer Sven Ortel, sound designer Peter Hylenski and music director Deborah K. Abramson. The cast included Kenny Tran as Oliver, Cathy Ang as Claire, Dez Duron as Gil Brentley, and John D. Haggerty as James.
Due to the musical featuring a largely Asian-American cast, Jesse Green of The New York Times praised the show for its casting inclusiveness in the column "Critics Notebook".
The first Japanese cast version was performed in Japan following the performance in the United States. Kenji Urai was cast as Oliver. In addition to Urai, Shoko Nakagawa and Kana Hanazawa were double-cast as Claire. Kenji Sakamoto and Shinji Saito also appeared in this work as James. The musical "Maybe Happy Ending" was performed at Theater Creation in Tokyo from 11 August (Tuesday) to 30 August (Sunday), 2020.
Kenji Urai was interviewed about his thoughts regarding the musical.
Shoko Nakagawa was praised for her innocence and cute performance.
The production reopened for its third overall season at the Yes 24 Stage 1, Daehangno, from 30 June to 13 September 2020. In this new staging, the band including the piano conductor is placed on the second floor of the stage, and the door that opens and closes in the center of the stage with the introduction of a running set. Changes in the space are freely expressed, a rising floor is added to the stage space used as the main acting space, and the overall use of video has been increased.
Jung Moon-sung from premiere, Jeon Sung-woo, and Yang Hee-jun were cast for the role of Oliver. Jeon Mi-do was also back as Claire, joined by actress Kang Hye-in, and Han Jae-ah. Seong Jong-wan and Lee Seon-geun joined the role of James. In this Season, artificial feeling was added to the acting style and vocal tone of the actors to clarify the identity of the robot character.
The Chinese premiere of musical Maybe Happy Ending was the fourth self-produced musical by SAIC Shanghai Culture Square. Despite the travel inconvenience caused by the pandemic, director Kim Dong-yeon came to Shanghai to join the production. It began its Chinese tour at the Theater Above through Sunday, Shanghai, on 1, 2 and 3 July 2021. Following the premiere in Shanghai, the musical moves on to Chengdu, Xiamen, Nanjing and Hangzhou in August, Wuxi in September and Tianjin in November.
Directed Dongyuan Jin. Oliver played by Zihongfan Huang, Claire played by Yaorong Guo, and James played by Bin Jiang.
The production was revived for its fourth season once again at the Yes24 Stage 1, Daehangno, Seoul on 22 June 2021, with Jung Uk-jin from premiere returning in the title role Oliver. Han Jae-ah, who won the Best New Actress Award at the Korea Musical Awards for this work last year, was reprising her role as Claire. Shin Sung-min and Lim Jun-hyeok joined the cast as Oliver, with Hong Ji-hee and Hana also joined as Claire. Seong Jong-wan and Lee Seon-geun play the role of Oliver's former owner, James. The production closed on 5 September 2021, after x performances.
The same production was reconstructed as an online performance. It was livestreamed three times in total on Naver TV's 'C-Mu by CJ ENM MUSICAL' channel on the 15, 22 and 29 November 2021. It was filmed and produced for online use with 7 cameras.
On 7 May 2024, it was announced that the production would be revived once again for its fifth season overall at the Yes24 Stage 1, Daehangno, Seoul, set to run from 18 June to 8 September. Park Jin-joo, Jang Min-je, and Hong Ji-Hee, reprising her role from the fourth season, were cast for the role of Claire. Yoon Eun-oh, Shin Jae-beom, and Park Uk-jin, reprising his role from the premiere production, were cast in the role of Oliver. Choi Ho-joong and Lee Si-an, reprising his role from the third and fourth seasons were cast in the role of James.
The Broadway production of the English version of Maybe Happy Ending, once again directed by Michael Arden, opened on 12 November 2024 at the Belasco Theater, following a delayed start of previews on 16 October due to supply chain issues. Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen star as Oliver and Claire, joined by Dez Duron reprising his Atlanta role as Gil Brentley, Marcus Choi reprising his workshop role as James, and Young Mazino and Arden Cho appearing in the pre-recorded roles of Suhan and Jiyeon. The production opened to unanimous positive reviews from the New York City theater press.
Broadway Website
Maybe Happy Ending at CJENM