What if artificial intelligence turned out to be as goofy as humans? Will Aronson and Hue Park explore the possibility in Maybe Happy Ending, a gentle musical starring Darren Criss, exuding his Glee-like charm and sincerity, and Broadway first-timer Helen J. Shen, who could have comfortably joined her co-star's hit television show. They play butttoned-up, jazz-loving Oliver and the more spontaneous Claire, "helpermates" who have been junked by their flawed password creators. When Claire, a later model than Oliver, needs to be re-charged, they "meet cute". Geek metaphors are cloyingly plentiful.
You can't deny the brilliance of Michael Arden's direction and innovative stage craft; the production design, in particular, shines through its multi-level deployment of neon-ringed screens and enormous video projections that reinforce the defining isolation of our real and virtual worlds. And there's a lovely number when fireflies, Claire's animating passion, take over the stage that makes you wish the songs were more memorable and the book (deeply indebted to Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun) less twee. Semi-sleazy Dez Duron (a Voice finalist) croons well and delivers some welcome light jazz distraction from dialog that too often sounds like regurgitated self-help.
I hate to say it, but Chat GPT's reported wickedness might have been more entertaining than this overly sentimental take on fake love.
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