Darren Criss and Helen J Shen Fall in Love in 'Maybe Happy Ending'

Summary

Episode Summary: Darren Criss and Helen J Shen Fall in Love in 'Maybe Happy Ending'

Podcast: All Of It
Host: Alison Stewart
Episode Title: Darren Criss and Helen J Shen Fall in Love in 'Maybe Happy Ending'
Release Date: June 6, 2025

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Introduction to 'Maybe Happy Ending'

In this episode of All Of It, host Alison Stewart delves into the groundbreaking original musical, "Maybe Happy Ending." This unconventional love story centers on Oliver and Claire, two retired helper robots residing in a Seoul apartment complex for obsolete bots in the year 2064. The narrative explores themes of love, purpose, and what it means to be alive through the lens of artificial intelligence.

Characters and Performances

Darren Criss portrays Oliver, a Series 3 robot who waits for his former owner to return, clinging to hope for 12 years with his plant, Wabun. Helen J. Shen plays Claire, a Series 5 robot whose malfunctioning charger forces her to seek assistance from Oliver, leading to an unexpected partnership.

Darren Criss on Portraying Oliver (02:26 - 05:47)

Darren Criss discusses his approach to embodying Oliver:

"Oliver would be something of an, you know, an iPhone3 and iPhone4. I'm, I play a robot who is probably at the beginning of this new technology. And so he's a little more, for lack of a better adjective, robotic. He's less human." (02:30)

Criss emphasizes the deliberate physicality of Oliver, drawing from his background in physical theater to differentiate his character from more advanced robots like Claire. He references various international theater traditions and techniques to craft a performance that clearly signals to the audience that Oliver is not human, allowing viewers to project emotions onto him.

Helen J. Shen on Portraying Claire (02:57 - 07:29)

Helen J. Shen elaborates on her character, Claire:

"I really enjoy and resonate with the sarcasm and the cutting, biting edge that she has to offset Oliver's more matter of factness. She has more nuance." (03:02)

Shen contrasts Claire's fluid and nuanced behavior with Oliver's rigid, straight-line movements. She discusses the challenge of making Claire both relatable and distinct, especially when interacting with human characters, highlighting her character's ability to navigate emotional gray areas and existential questions about fulfillment and purpose.

Exploring the Opening Number

The episode features an excerpt from the musical's opening number, "The World Within My Room," performed by Darren Criss as Oliver.

Transcript Excerpt:

"Today the air in Seoul is very clear and warm today the smiles too are warmer than the norm Though the change is not profound There's a specialness going around let's enjoy the day watching from the window as the morning crowds appear, picturing the places they are going. Soon the rush over and the sidewalk starts to clear. Then I start my day in here. The world within my room. The perfect place to explore from. I never need more from the world within my room. I choose a book and I read it. A place to recharge when I need it. And it's all within my room." (07:49 - 09:57)

This piece sets the tone for Oliver's isolated existence and his longing for connection, encapsulating his desire to maintain a perfect, unchanging environment.

Deep Dive: Themes and Emotional Resonance

Alison Stewart engages with Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen to unpack the emotional layers of "Maybe Happy Ending," exploring why the show resonates deeply with audiences.

The Human-Network Connection (10:08 - 11:19)

Helen J. Shen reflects on the evolving relationship between Oliver and Claire:

"In the beginning, there's a real need for this charger. There's a need physically. Actually, this is probably the worst charger being that she could have met across the way to borrow a charger. And then, little by little, he does challenge her idea of what being alive means." (10:08)

Shen highlights how their initial interaction, seemingly mundane, evolves into a profound exploration of existence and self-discovery, suggesting that it's never too late to learn and grow.

Emotional Impact on the Audience (11:19 - 14:37)

Discussing the show's ability to evoke strong emotions, both Criss and Shen explain the universal themes of isolation, hope, and human connection that drive audience reactions.

Helen J. Shen notes:

"If you have a relationship with isolation that you're trying to heal... it feels like it resonates so deeply with us. We know what that kind of deep isolation feels like." (11:29)

Darren Criss adds:

"Human beings have an unavoidable desire to have some kind of catharsis in person. And that is what I think we get to provide here." (13:20)

Criss emphasizes the innate human need for emotional release and connection, which theater uniquely fulfills, making the experience of watching "Maybe Happy Ending" both moving and cathartic.

Critical Acclaim and Future Prospects

"Maybe Happy Ending" has garnered significant recognition, being nominated for 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and securing a nomination for Darren Criss among 63 first-time nominees. Additionally, the show received the Drama Desk Award for Best Musical. Darren Criss has extended his role through August 31st, underscoring the show's success and popularity.

Conclusion

In this episode, Alison Stewart provides an insightful exploration of "Maybe Happy Ending," highlighting how its innovative storytelling and emotionally rich performances by Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen create a compelling narrative that resonates with diverse audiences. The musical's blend of science fiction and heartfelt human themes offers a fresh perspective on love and existence, reaffirming the enduring power of theater to connect and move its audience.

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Stay Tuned: Following this episode, listeners can look forward to a live performance from the cast of the new musical "Real Women Have Curves," and an interview with Tony-nominated composers Joy Huerta and Benjamin Vales.

Transcript

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[Alison Stewart]

You are listening to all of it on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. It's our Tony special and next we are talking about the new original musical, the maybe Happy Ending. It's an unconventional love story because the couple at the center is a pair of robots. The setting is Seoul, Korea in 2064. Oliver and Claire are two retired helper bots designed to help people with their household tasks. They're both living in kind of an apartment complex for obsolete robots. Oliver, a Series 3 robot, believes that his former owner is coming back for him. He and his beloved plant, Wabun, stay inside, listen to jazz, and wait for a note from James for 12 years. Claire comes knocking on his door. Claire is a Series 5 robot, but her charger has broken and she wants to borrow his. It's a meet cute robot style. When Oliver decides he wants to go find his former owner Climb, Claire decides to go with him. The problem is humans are tricky things, as they discover. Maybe Happy Ending has been nominated for 10 Tony Awards, including best musical and a nomination for star Darren Criss. He's one of 63 nominees who are first timers. And recently it was announced that Darren Criss has extended his run with the show through August 31st. I began my conversation with Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen by asking Darren how he would describe his character.

[Darren Criss]

Oliver.

[Alison Stewart]

Oliver. At the beginning of the show, Oliver.

[Darren Criss]

Would be something of an, you know, an iPhone3 and iPhone4. You know, I'm, I play a robot who is probably at the beginning of this new technology. And so he's a little more, for lack of a better adjective, robotic. He's less human. Michelle can talk more about her character, but she is certainly, you know, more human. Like she's running on iOS 97 and my character is definitely still in Windows 98.

[Helen J. Shen]

Helen, how would you describe Claire? If I just met Claire, I would.

Describe her as having. I really enjoy and resonate with the sarcasm and the cutting, biting edge that she has to offset Oliver's more matter of factness. She has more nuance. And I think as the audience meets Oliver for the first time, meeting Claire becomes the way that we can meet the world in an easier way than his. Such black and white things. I think Claire is already much more comfortable with the gray area and pain and the more painful parts of life. Not in a sad way, not in a pessimistic way, but just kind of in a. She's accepted the reality of life, which is that there is a. There is an expiration date for everybody.

How did you, Darren, how did you go about embodying this robot? Because he is an older model, he.

[Darren Criss]

Definitely moves a little bit. You know, I think physically that was the main way I could sort of paint a difference between these two characters. And certainly for an audience to understand that we were in an alternate kind of universe. So I was quite keen on making sure that the physical characterization of this was very clearly not human, which is a fun journey for me because I have a background in physical theater. And so I employ a lot of things that I studied in drama school. And, you know, there's a lot of very nerdy theater things I could. Names I could drop. But let's just say there's a lot.

[Alison Stewart]

Of you can drop.

[Darren Criss]

Wonderful physical theater training. Well, I mean, there's a lot of, you know, historical theater traditions around the world. I would say Comedia dell' Arte from Italy, Kabuki from Japan. There's people like Lecoq, who's a wonderful teacher of movement out of France, and Marcel Marceau. There's a lot of great physical theater acting that I think finds its way into what I'm doing. And it really is a tool to, again, sort of telegraph to the audience that this is not a human being. And in so doing, allows the audience to kind of fill in the emotions where he cannot. So that was. That's a lot, you know, for me, it's funny that I'm kind of choreographing this thing's lines in between his lines by way of, you know, how he expresses himself physically.

[Alison Stewart]

Helen. You know, we see Oliver, his posture is very sort of stiff and forward leaning. You resemble a human a little bit more. How do you think about your physicality of Claire?

[Helen J. Shen]

If Oliver is straight lines, Claire has kind of taken those straight lines and curved them a little bit. So there's more. There's a little bit more fluidity to it. There's more. The in betweens that. The transitional moments. Normalizing is a lot easier for Claire in those moments of tension and figuring out. Yeah, I think. I think physically was. Was definitely easier. It was more akin to human like behaviors. But emotionally, you find Claire's most robotic when she's interacting with her human owners, which I find a really interesting acting challenge and meal to kind of sink my teeth into where she's very. She's almost unintelligible from humans. When reacting to Oliver's roboticness and then being utilized for her prime directive, she really turns on the.

The.

How she can be helpful and how she can kind of get to the point quicker, not make those jokes, not do those things. It's an interesting journey that I've gone on trying to build this character, especially for the premiere on Broadway. It just feels very much like we were able to build from the ground up and discover what those character traits, how they were gonna manifest in our portrayals.

My guests are Darren Criss and Helen Jae Shen. They are the stars of the new musical. Maybe happy ending. The show is running now at the Belasco Theater. Let's listen to a little bit from the opening number. We start with Oliver. He's alone in his little tiny apartment. First of all, Darren, what goes on with Oliver in his little tiny apartment when we see him?

[Darren Criss]

Well, I mean, there's a. The word is escaping me. And I studied Japanese for a while, so forget my listeners who know the word. It begins with an H. I just don't want to mess it up on. On wmyc because there's a lot of smart people here, but I forget the name, but it's. It's. It's the concept of men that never leave their house. And this is a. This is a. This exists all over the world, but in Japan, there's an actual word for it of hikumori, who never. They never want to leave their little. Their tiny little hermit lives. And everything needs to be perfect. And they'll just spend weeks upon months just it. Never leaving. And so he's a lot of that. And anything that can disrupt his perfect little tiny world is. Is. Is. Is terrifying. But as long as he can stay within his lane, life is beautiful. He has the whole world within his room, which is the name of the song.

[Helen J. Shen]

Here's world.

[Darren Criss]

Today the air in Seoul is very clear and warm today the smiles too are warmer than the norm Though the change is not profound There's a specialness going around let's enjoy the day watching from the window as the morning crowds appear, picturing the places they are going. Soon the rush over and the sidewalk starts to clear. Then I start my day in here. The world within my room. The perfect place to explore from. I never need more from the world within my room. I choose a book and I read it. A place to recharge when I need it. And it's all within my room.

[Helen J. Shen]

You know, Claire clearly brings out something in Oliver, and I wonder, you know, does she really care for him or is she performing her duty to help?

That's a great question. I think that in the beginning, there's a real need for this charger. There's a need physically. Actually, this is probably the worst charger being that she could have met across the way to borrow a charger. And then, little by little, he does challenge her idea of what being alive means. And I think that is an interesting. It surprises her to then challenge herself about what she thinks, what she thinks existence needs in order to feel fulfilling. There's a moment when. When they're already on the journey of. Of. Towards the end of her, I guess, lifespan, she. Both of them think that they have finished cooking and have finished learning everything that they need to learn about the world. But that is a lesson that I think I take from this piece, and I think audiences take from this piece, is that they're. One is never too late to learn something new about the world and learn something new about themselves as well.

[Alison Stewart]

There were people crying when I went to see it. Helen, why do you think this show can make people cry and happy? Cry, sad, cry, whatever cry you want.

[Helen J. Shen]

Yes, exactly. I think this show has so many ins for anything. If you have a relationship with a parent that you're trying to heal, if you have a relationship with isolation that you're trying to heal, certainly coming off of the heels of the COVID moment for all of us, it feels like it resonates so deeply with us. We know what that kind of deep isolation feels like. And then to feel the vastness and openness of how big the world can be on the opposite end of that spectrum is something that is really, I think, exciting for people to experience. And I think. I mean, I don't know, but I assume the feeling of sitting in a theater and watching something brand new for the first time and not knowing what's gonna come at you, thinking that you know where the story is headed, and then a sharp left turn, that would feel emotional to me. I think I. Yeah, I think because we're. We've emotionally dilated the Audience from this rom com gentle. We think we know where this is going because of that first half. The second half ends up resonating. We're already a little bit more open to the emotions that we can feel. And yeah, to feel real hope for the first time maybe in a while is something that will be emotional for people. The music works like movie underscoring, where you're not really sure what the emotion is that you're feeling and suddenly it blasts open. I think that is emotional. And to sit and be together experiencing something new, I think is something really special.

[Darren Criss]

That's why we go to the theater. It's why theater has been an inevitable art form for thousands of years. Despite all the technology that we have, whether they're helper bots, smartphones, or chatgpt, at the end of the day, human beings have an unavoidable desire to have some kind of catharsis in person. And that is what I think we get to provide here. And the tears that you're talking about, I think are just a byproduct of what it is to be moved by human story. And it's not a sad cry, it's just it's being moved by feeling so unabashedly human. We feel it on stage. People feel it out there in the audience. And as Helen said, you know, that's a feeling that you hope for. When you experience art at its best, you know, you chase it. If you felt it once, you have wondered, what if it's ever going to come again. And having the again privilege to be in a show that is so new and original and singular, which is directly antithetical to a lot of shows that have some kind of familiar IP attached to it. And so audiences come with expectation and comparison. We're unencumbered by that. And so we can feel the hearts and minds of people's dials being really open. Their gain is up to like 11, you know, to hear something new and special. And so it's just such a joy to be able to share that with new audiences.

[Alison Stewart]

That was my conversation with Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen. They are the stars of the new musical maybe Happy Ending, which is nominated for 10 Tony Awards. It also happened to take home the Drama Desk Award for best Musical. Coming up, a special live performance from the cast of the new musical Real Women have Curves. Plus, we'll speak with the Tony nominated composers behind the musical, Joy Huerta and Benjamin Vales. This is all of it.

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