{"id":29403,"date":"2025-06-10T16:31:48","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T16:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=29403"},"modified":"2025-06-10T17:24:31","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T17:24:31","slug":"how-maybe-happy-ending-overcame-a-shaky-start-and-won-big-at-the-tonys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=29403","title":{"rendered":"How \u2018Maybe Happy Ending\u2019 Overcame a Shaky Start and Won Big at the Tonys"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><\/div>\n<p id=\"article-summary\" class=\"css-79rysd e1wiw3jv0\">Broadway\u2019s best musical winner had to delay its opening last fall and was selling poorly. But strong word-of-mouth and reviews helped this quirky show triumph.<\/p>\n<section class=\"meteredContent css-1r7ky0e\">\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cMaybe Happy Ending\u201d had a very unhappy beginning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The show\u2019s triumph at Sunday night\u2019s Tony Awards, where it won six honors, including best new musical, capped a remarkable turnaround for a small production with a baffling title and a hard-to-sell premise that was seen by industry insiders as dead on arrival when it began previews last fall.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But in the wee hours of Monday morning, as the quirky show\u2019s performers and producers partied with their creative team and investors at the Bryant Park Grill, the celebrants finally allowed themselves to acknowledge that their against-all-odds show is breaking though.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"ImageBlock-1\">\n<div data-testid=\"imageblock-wrapper\">\n<figure class=\"img-sz-medium css-mqw7kw e1g7ppur0\" aria-label=\"media\" role=\"group\">\n<div class=\"css-1xdhyk6 erfvjey0\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-children-figure\">\n<div class=\"css-nwd8t8\" data-testid=\"lazy-image\">\n<div data-testid=\"lazyimage-container\" style=\"height:257.77777777777777px\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption data-testid=\"photoviewer-children-caption\" class=\"css-gbc9ki ewdxa0s0\"><span class=\"css-jevhma e13ogyst0\">Shen and Criss play robots in a story about isolation, memory and love that received overwhelmingly positive reviews.<\/span><span class=\"css-14fe1uy e1z0qqy90\"><span><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Jeenah Moon for The New York Times<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe didn\u2019t know if this show would even open,\u201d said its star, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/05\/16\/theater\/darren-criss-maybe-happy-ending.html\" title>Darren Criss<\/a>, who won his first Tony for playing Oliver, an outdated helperbot who strikes up a life-changing (well, shelf-life-changing) relationship with a robot across the hall. Criss, an Emmy winner (for \u201cAmerican Crime Story\u201d) and \u201cGlee\u201d alumnus, is also a member of the show\u2019s producing team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"Dropzone-3\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe didn\u2019t have the luxury to dream about a scenario like this,\u201d he said. \u201cThis was definitely the little show that could.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">How bad did things get? Last summer, the show\u2019s lead producers, Jeffrey Richards and Hunter Arnold, postponed the first performance by a month, citing supply chain issues, which the producers insist were real (there was a delay in the availability of digital video tiles from China), but which many thought was a cover story to hide financial problems.<\/p>\n<div class=\"css-kbghgg\">\n<div class=\"css-121kum4\">\n<div class=\"css-171quhb\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-asuuk5\">\n<div class=\"css-7axq9l\" data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1dv1kvn\" id=\"optimistic-truncator-a11y\">\n<hr \/>\n<p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F06%2F10%2Ftheater%2Fmaybe-happy-ending-tonys-broadway.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">log into<\/a>\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F06%2F10%2Ftheater%2Fmaybe-happy-ending-tonys-broadway.html\">subscribe<\/a>\u00a0for all of The Times.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1g71tqy\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Thank you for your patience while we verify access.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Already a subscriber?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"log-in-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F06%2F10%2Ftheater%2Fmaybe-happy-ending-tonys-broadway.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">Log in<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Want all of The Times?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"subscribe-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F06%2F10%2Ftheater%2Fmaybe-happy-ending-tonys-broadway.html\">Subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Broadway\u2019s best musical winner had to delay its opening last fall and was selling poorly. But strong word-of-mouth and reviews helped this quirky show triumph.\u201cMaybe Happy Ending\u201d had a very unhappy beginning.The show\u2019s triumph at Sunday night\u2019s Tony Awards, where it won six honors, including best new musical, capped a remarkable turnaround for a small production with a baffling title and a hard-to-sell premise that was seen by industry insiders as dead on arrival when it began previews last fall.But in the wee hours of Monday morning, as the quirky show\u2019s performers and producers partied with their creative team and investors at the Bryant Park Grill, the celebrants finally allowed themselves to acknowledge that their against-all-odds show is breaking though.Shen and Criss play robots in a story about isolation, memory and love that received overwhelmingly positive reviews.Jeenah Moon for The New York Times\u201cWe didn\u2019t know if this show would even open,\u201d said its star, Darren Criss, who won his first Tony for playing Oliver, an outdated helperbot who strikes up a life-changing (well, shelf-life-changing) relationship with a robot across the hall. Criss, an Emmy winner (for \u201cAmerican Crime Story\u201d) and \u201cGlee\u201d alumnus, is also a member of the show\u2019s producing team.\u201cWe didn\u2019t have the luxury to dream about a scenario like this,\u201d he said. \u201cThis was definitely the little show that could.\u201dHow bad did things get? Last summer, the show\u2019s lead producers, Jeffrey Richards and Hunter Arnold, postponed the first performance by a month, citing supply chain issues, which the producers insist were real (there was a delay in the availability of digital video tiles from China), but which many thought was a cover story to hide financial problems.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29405,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29403"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29406,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29403\/revisions\/29406"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}