Maybe Happy Ending

There are many secrets to crafting a successful rom-com, but the two most important things are the main couple’s chemistry and nailing their initial “meet cute.” The charming, Tony-winning musical “Maybe Happy Ending,” now in its second year at the Belasco Theatre, gets both just right, thanks to its newish leads, Zachary Noah Piser and Hannah Kevitt, as well as writers Will Aronson and Hue Park, and director Michael Arden.

Within minutes, we’re introduced to Oliver (the adorkable Piser), an outdated helperbot (a humanoid robot) in future-day South Korea. The almost child-like, overly cheerful Oliver happily spends his days inside his little apartment, conversing with his plant Hwaboon, and listening to his favorite jazz albums – specifically those recorded by the fictional Gil Brentley (a super-smooth crooner aptly played by Dez Duron, who gained some fame from his appearance many years ago on NBC’s “The Voice.”)

Above all, he waits – naively, even foolishly – to be reunited with his former owner James (a fine Marcus Choi), even though more than a decade has passed since they cohabitated. It will take a lot to shatter Oliver’s long-held illusion, which ultimately happens thanks to the actions of the more intelligent if not necessarily smarter Claire (sharply etched by a sassy yet vulnerable Kevitt), a technologically advanced yet still outdated helperbot.

And here is their meet cute: While the two have lived across the hall from each other for more than a decade, they’ve never met – yes, any New Yorker can believe this – until Claire needs to borrow Oliver’s charger to literally bring her back to life. While the pair initially bicker, they soon bond, albeit unexpectedly.

Almost impulsively, Claire – who owns a car thanks to her former owner (Arden Cho, seen via projection) – suggests a road trip to Jeju Island. There, she can see her beloved fireflies (one last time before probably dying, we soon realize) and Oliver can finally find James, or more accurately, come to terms with the inevitable truth (which actually comes with a slightly clever twist).

Before they set out on the road, the pair promise to never fall in love with each other, but we know better (even if they avoid having sex while stranded in a tacky motel that is literally called Motel Sexx), adding another level of poignancy to the story.

Aronson and Park’s highly tuneful, original score is well-served by the clear-voiced Piser and the emotionally connected Kevitt. Admittedly, few of their songs linger in the memory, but Oliver’s “World Within My Room,” Claire’s “How Not to Be Alone,” and the duets “The Rainy Day We Met” and “When You’re in Love” are all quite lovely. The few songs for Duron’s Gil are very pastiche—one could swear they were written in the 1950s — but they are beautifully performed.

Far more original is the technologically advanced set (by Dane Laffrey with superb lighting by Ben Stanton and video and projection design by George Reeve) – full of moving rooms and super-giant screens – that both produces a sense of wonder, yet also keeps threatening to overwhelm the relatively simple story

Still, my biggest gripe with the show remains even on second viewing. In the last 15 minutes (of this 105-minute intermissionless show), the musical becomes “Too Many Endings.” I can understand the impulse not to end the piece on the simplest, happiest terms (although I would have been okay with it), but Park and Aronson strive way too hard to hastily give the show a “third act” with so many revelations and plot turns that our goodwill towards the show threatens to evaporate before the final curtain.

Still, if the question is whether one should go see this highly original new musical for the first, second or third time -– even if you’ve never heard of Piser or Kevitt –- the answer is an unqualified “yes.”
By Brian Scott Lipton