‘Maybe Happy Ending’: Love Among the Machines

metroweekly.com:

Maybe Happy Ending, Will Aronson and Hue Park’s completely original musical about robot romance, has just opened.That thumbnail description is unlikely to have folks jumping online or flooding the box office to secure tickets.

But like love itself, this show is worth the risk.Risk isn’t a friend to Oliver (Darren Criss), a Helperbot 3 who lives just outside of Seoul, Korea, in an apartment complex with other Helperbots, all of whom once possessed human-like qualities and were reliable aids to their Korean owners.

But with newer models and improved technology, they were quickly replaced and discarded.Oliver now spends his days with his plant, Hwaboon, safe within the confines of his apartment. “Who has time to go outdoors… ’cause I have enough here in the world within my room,” he sings in the jaunty opening number.Guileless and somewhat naïve, Oliver is certain that his owner, James (Marcus Choi) will come back to retrieve him.

He’s simply biding his time and doesn’t feel an ounce of obsoletion. After all, James once told Oliver that he can’t live without him so Oliver has convinced himself that he and James will happily reunite soon.Claire (Helen J.