Home About Resume

My favorite musical

My favorite musical I've seen (to date) is Maybe Happy Ending.

I had the privilege of seeing it for the first time in NYC on January 28th, 2026. And I was really enjoying it! Up until it literally got canceled 2/3 of the way through due to unrecoverable technical difficulties.

In the 506 showings prior, there were some technical issues yes, but they could usually just put Dez Duron (one of the 4 show leads) in front of the audience to sing classical jazz for a few minutes while repairs got done and get back to it. But not this time. Darren Criss came out 10 minutes in and gave us the bad news. We left the theatre feeling more incredulous than anything: did that just happen?

Thankfully we got vouchers as compensation and could book a second viewing just a few weeks later on 2026-02-15. Coincidentally, this was Helen J. Shen's penultimate performance before her closing act that night. And boy did she sing her heart out, it was even better the second time.

I am not a particularly emotional person, but I'll admit I had to wipe away some tears at the ending. I haven't felt so moved by media since I watched Clannad in high school.

The spoiler-free highlights

  1. An incredible original soundtrack. The blend of classical jazz notes with robotic undertones fit the characters and plot perfectly.
  2. Extraordinary acting. Darren's stiff robotic physical acting contrasts so well with Helen's natural poise.
  3. Chemistry! Their joke timing is on point, and break up the more serious tones of the show to keep things from getting too heavy.
  4. Yummy secondary social media content. The musical team does a great job running a YouTube channel, Instgram page- the works. So you can immerse yourself even after the show. They even have an Insta page for the houseplant in the show, HwaBoon.
  5. Outrageously cool set design. The sliding mechanisms to create physical visual aperture are so cool. That said, I can see how technical difficulties would plague this show. It's a lot of moving parts to maintain.
  6. A philosophical viewpoint without preaching. The musical tows a fine line where it clearly espouses a viewpoint on life but respects the audience enough to let them interpret it how they want.

Spoilers ahead

I unfortunately can't explain my favorite parts without spoiling the plot. If you have the chance to see it live in NYC, please go do so at your nearest convenience.

I know this will be inaccessible to many people though. So as an alternative before they release pro-cam footage to view online, at least for now there's a YouTube video called "two robots fall in love in jeju island the musical" with a shakycam bootleg recording. I'm only telling you this to motivate you to see it in person though! I promise you it's worth it.

Here's your last warning! Spoilers come next.

The part where I almost cried

The show builds up a clear firefly motif over time, introducing fireflies early on as Claire's favorite memory of Jeju island. The song "Never Fly Away" then cements the fireflies as a representation of Claire and Oliver themselves. As Oliver describes them: "tiny flying robots".

After the memory erasure sequence and the lights cut to black, two fireflies remain twirling around each other. Faintly glowing. But as fireflies only live for a few weeks in the wild, they both lose their light and fall soon after one by one. Just as fireflies die in the end, so do our robots' memories and the relationship we see them cultivate over the show's runtime.

I'll admit just recollecting that scene brings tears to my eyes. The show does an incredible job drawing the connection between the fireflies' transient beauty with our robot friends' plight. We build empathy for Claire and Oliver as they fall in love. And in that final scene when everything fades to black, we realize we are the fireflies as well, doomed all the same.

Which makes it all the more powerful when we realize Oliver chooses to keep his memories, choosing to experience the shared joys and sorrows despite their transience. Despite knowing the best you'll get is a maybe happy ending.

Oh hey it's our buddy existentialism

I'll admit it's been a while since I've studied philosophy, but the show's themes remind me of existentialist thinking. At its core, existentialism is a movement that posits "existence precedes essence" - that people are born without a predetermined purpose and must create their own meaning in an absurd universe.

The helperbots are literally programmed with a purpose, but once that purpose is revealed to be obsolete they must define their own. And as Oliver's choice to retain his memories demonstrates, the journey itself is what's worthwhile even when you know it's fleeting.

For a long time I struggled with relationships because I knew they would one day end. Why bother? Would it not be easier to simply withdraw and not love at all? It took a lot of personal growth for me to ultimately overcome this paralysis and put my feelings out there, despite the inevitable pain.

Oliver's decision gets me emotionally worked up because it speaks to the difficult choice we make every day to proceed in an increasingly complicated world, filled with unlimited information yet painfully limited capability.

Oh and it's a super cute demonstration of love & devotion. I'm pretty sure that's what makes everyone else cry, probably not French philosophy.

Art must be found

Watching Maybe Happy Ending reminds me how important it is to seek out art. As my blogposts suggest, I often focus too much on feeding my brain and not my soul. This musical speaks to me in a way reading Jean-Paul Sartre never could.

Anyway, I hope you get a chance to watch it in person and enjoy it as much as I do!