Darren Criss to star in new Broadway musical 'Maybe Happy Ending'

The Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor will star alongside Helen J. Shen and Dez Duron in the show, which will play at the Belasco Theatre this fall.

UPDATE: Maybe Happy Ending has moved back its performance start date; the below article has been updated with the new dates. Additionally, Marcus Choi has joined the cast as James and others.

What happy news! Darren Criss will star in Maybe Happy Ending, a new Broadway musical, this fall. Performances begin at the Belasco Theatre on October 16 ahead of an November 12 opening.

Criss is best known for his Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning performance as Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story and for playing Blaine Anderson on Glee. His stage credits include Little Shop of Horrors, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and American Buffalo.

He will star alongside Helen J. Shen (The Lonely Few, Teeth off Broadway) and Dez Duron (The Voice on NBC), both of whom make their Broadway debuts with the show.

Maybe Happy Ending takes place in a small apartment in Seoul, South Korea, where two obsolete and retired robots — Oliver (Criss) and his neighbor Claire (Shen) — strike up an unexpected friendship that might even be love. Duron also stars as Gil Brentley.

Additional casting has yet to be announced.

The show is directed by Tony Award winner Michael Arden (Parade) and written by Will Aronson (book and music) and Hue Park (book and lyrics). Maybe Happy Ending also features set and additional video design by Dane Laffrey, costume design by Clint Ramos, lighting design by Ben Stanton, sound design by Peter Hylenski, video design by George Reeve, music supervision by Deborah Abramson, and music direction by John Yun.

Maybe Happy Ending was written in both Korean and English. The Korean-language version opened in 2016 in Seoul and won six Korean Musical Awards, including Best Musical. The English-language version premiered at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta in 2020, also under Arden's direction. That production won the 2017 Richard Rodgers Production Award.

Check back for information on Maybe Happy Ending tickets on New York Theatre Guide.

Photo credit: Darren Criss. (Photo by Tony Moux for Onekind)