In the grand scope of all things theatrical, 2026 has been flat-out disappointing. From a lackluster Broadway season capped by an underwhelming Tony Awards to the neighboring catastrophe as our current administration persists in using the fate of the Kennedy Canter as a political weapon for his egomaniacal nonsense, very little enthusiasm can be drummed up for the arts.
Which is why the Hippodrome had been an exceptional gift. And their strong 2026-27 season offers yet another welcome respite from all that, a complete breath of fresh air as it kicks the season off with a modest but uniquely uplifting production of the 2025 Tony Award Winning Best Musical Maybe Happy Ending (book & music by Will Aronson ,book & lyrics by Hue Park, direction by Michael Arden), the first of two National Tour launches featured this year.
I hesitate to give away too much about the plot, not because it reveals any massive surprises (on the contrary, the story is mildly predictable), but because it’s one of those subjects that sounds so much less than when put into words. Hence a perfectly descriptive log line like “The sweet story of two abandoned robots who explore the world outside their units and discover humanity, emotions, and love in the process” cannot help but use language that has negative connotations. In our overly jaded world, “sweet” today implies a story that is annoyingly saccharine and cloying, and the very mention of “robots” conjures up sci-fi images that loses most of your audience. But fight that conditioning, because this sweet tale of Korean robots who evolve to experience humanity is a refreshing escape from the constant stress of the world outside our units.
The story concerns Oliver (Stephen Huynh), a “Helperbot 3” who has been deposited in a one-room unit of the Helperbot Yards by his former owner James (James Seol), somewhere in the near future. There he contently waits out his days performing his well-rehearsed routine of getting the daily mail, talking to his “friend” HwaBoon (a plant version of Wilson from Castaway, his name being Korean for “flower pot”), and listening to James’ old jazz records by his obsession, 50s crooner Gil Brentley (Francisco Javier Gonzalez).
Twelve years later, his serene existence is interrupted when Claire (Claire Kwon), the technically more impressive but significantly less durable “Helperbot 5” from across the hall, knocks on his door begging to borrow his charger as hers has gone dead. As Oliver and Claire become closer and develop a new routine, the two become friends who compete and complete each other. Claire’s battery is dying, but her wireless is still working, so between the two they conceive a plan to locate James and take Oliver to him.
At this point, the claustrophobic world of their units in the Yards opens up to become a robo-buddy road trip story as they travel and explore the exciting life outside their rooms, and, predictably, the more time they spend in the human world, the more the experience humanizes them, eventually introducing the human emotions of love, loss, and redemption. All in a sweet story about robots.
Huynh and Kwon have an endearing chemistry, and subtly distinguish their models’ differing features. The older but more durable model, Huynh moves, and thinks, with more rigidity, adhering to routine and less variation, while Kwon is a technically advanced but more fragile model who processes thought and interprets information with a more fluid motion. The attention to their different postures, motions, and manner of speaking and thinking is a master class of movement and detail, reflecting equally strong writing by Aronson & Park and impressive creative direction by Arden.
Huynh and Kwon also possess beautiful voices to sing Aronson’s conversational score and impeccable comic timing to pull off the subtle physical humor of their combined human/mechanical dualities. They also have fine-tuned their individual character’s ratio of the two, Kwon as Claire being the more mechanical thinker, Huynh the more mechanical mover. It’s like watching a ride at Disney World where a next generation animatron works with earlier editions. They may have even taken a cue from them as such, as the later model has better aesthetics but less reliability, as Claire does compared to Oliver. (Take a ride on the new Tiana’s Bayou Adventure if you don’t understand that comparison.)
In a track of supporting roles, Seol is a warm presence as former owner and “friend” James, and beautifully contrasts that with a secondary character, the more irritable and less embraceable Junseo. His vocals are warm and smooth like his idol Gil Brentley.
As Brently, Gonzalez is a perfect blend of every iconic singer from Sinatra and Bennett to Connick and Bubblé, or any other throwback crooner in the near future to come. Appearing sporadically to add a jazzier sound to Aronson’s otherwise sweet and gentle score, he is a welcome addition for musical variety alone,
On the technical end, Dane Laffrey’s scenic designs are unique and, thankfully, incredibly varied. We spend the bulk of the first act of the story (it’s a one-act musical with no intermission, but there are two clearly defined acts in storytelling, both visually and content-wise) in the cramped 10×10 units of Oliver and Claire, or the sliver of connecting hallway in between. Laffrey confines us to these areas with three-directional black scrims that show only the borders and contents of the units. But when our protagonists hit the road, the outside world of culture and tech come crashing in, blowing up the entire set with elaborate bi-level designs, splashes of neon, and complex projections and videos to flesh out the rest of Korea they have been isolated from. And the contrast is visually thrilling. Just when he’s lulled you into the sedate tone and pace of their apartments, he pulls out the stops to the point of near sensory overload, in the best way. He and Arden even give us a subtle fake-out when we transition from the apartments to Claire’s “car”, which is simply suggested by their luggage arranged in a seatable unit to pantomime the automobile.
Ben Stanton’s Lighting Design works seamlessly with Laffrey, from the gentle blue and pink mood lighting of the Yard units to the bright neon of the road hotel, the computerized visuals of their memories, and the subtle full stage beauty of the fireflies that provokes Claire to join Oliver on his journey.
Clint Ramos’ Costume Designs are simple but effective. Oliver wears a simple white button-down shirt and turquoise slacks with a tan neutral shade travel jacket, and he counters Claire in a white blouse and an olive neutral skirt with a bright pink travel jacket, with bursts of color both complimenting and balancing each other.
Aronson and Park’s book is clever, funny, and gently bordering on the saccharine, but in the best way. Aronson’s score is barely memorable, but perfectly enhances the gentle nature of the show. It’s strength is its stunning throwback sound in arrangements full of lush strings and swinging brass with no percussion, as if all the musical voices of Oliver and Claire by association are the magical 40s-50s big band orchestrations of James’ idol Gil Brentley, a very clever and subtle take.
If there is one critique, it is that Aronson’s score, and the show in turn, would have benefited from one good, memorable tune for the audience to take away with them. They even invented a lift-out character in Brentley who could have sung a good big band tune out of context of the story. A stand-alone solo to identify the show by, something to play on the Sirius Broadway Network could have put this show on a bigger map. It was blatantly obvious when they had nothing memorable to perform at the Tonys, a blown free 4 minute commercial opportunity to sell your show to the tourists and community fans everywhere (they performed the firefly number, which is beautiful in the context of the show but had no impact outside it). But that’s common today. It’s a near sacrilege to “pull the audience out of the prefect blend of the book and music into one fluid story”. They fail to understand that that is why musical theater has stayed relevant forever, because a strong hot song that lifts out pulls in an the potential audience who aren’t in the theatre yet. (Note to contemporary composers—none of you are Sondheim to get away with that, and a good musical hook never did anything but good for a score.) However I will not go so far as I have with other musicals in the same boat to say that the music was unnecessary of even a distraction, that the show would have been a better play then musical. The gentle songs, whatever they lack, are masterfully woven into their characters dialogue and stories.
What Tony Award Winning Director Michael Arden gives us here is a magical musical fable showing the importance of humanity, connection, and love in today’s overly wired, high tech, too fast-paced world. Helperbots are not programmed for love and emotion, but through unplanned connection with another being, both Oliver and Claire evolve into higher beings who learn to love, with no guarantee for a happily every ever (hence the title). On the contrary, they are both victims of planned obsolescence (the robotic equivalents of aging and death), yet understand the risk of loving with no guarantee outweighs never loving at all. It’s what separates us from other species, and machines. And Arden is a director with a keen eye and a passionate spirit who guides every miniscule movement and gesture into a 100 minute subtly yet intricately choreographed parable beat by beat in a manner that is so well executed it’s almost imperceptible as he drives these themes home.
Maybe Happy Ending is refreshing launch for this upcoming Hippodrome season. Next up is Alicia Key’s Hell’s Kitchen in November followed by The Sound of Music in January. The rest of the season contains big offerings like Death Becomes Her, 2024 Best Musical Winner The Outsiders¸ perennial event Hamilton, the first national tour and launch of the current off-Broadway hit Heathers, and a newly conceived Disney’s Beauty & the Beast for a new generation of family audiences. Tickets are available for upcoming individual shows or season packages at the link in the end details.
Photos courtesy of Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
The show runs 1 hour and 40 minutes with no intermission.
Maybe Happy Ending runs through September 19, 2026, at the Hippodrome Theatre in the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center at 12 N. Eutaw Street. For tickets call the box office at 410.752.7444. or purchase them online.