After the recasting of Maybe Happy Ending‘s leading man with a non-Asian actor, Darren Criss is returning to the Broadway musical.
On Wednesday, the Will Aronson/Hue Park show announced the 2x Tony-winning actor is reprising his robotic role as Oliver on Nov. 5, following backlash around the casting of Andrew Barth Feldman, the first actor not of Asian descent to step into the character.
“This Model 3 is anything but retired,” the musical posted on Instagram. “Darren Criss returns to Maybe Happy Ending on Broadway as Oliver beginning November 5th.”
BD Wong previously penned an open letter calling the response “a real, eternal outcry about race and representation, not an irrational rant about robots,” which has garnered more than 2,400 signatures from Conrad Ricamora, Anthony Rapp, Joaquina Kalukango, Jon Jon Briones, Telly Leung and more.
After Criss, who is of Asian descent, originated the role of Oliver on Broadway following the show’s Asian-led run in Seoul, Park and Aronson responded to recent backlash over the casting of Feldman, who is white.
“Our dream at the outset was that our allegorical robot show could one day miraculously become part of the American musical theater canon – a modern Fantasticks, able to be comfortably performed by anyone, anywhere – yet distinctly set in Korea,” they explained in a statement on Instagram. “This went against prevailing wisdom that we needed to set our show in America.”
Following the musical’s 2016 premiere in Korea and 2024 Broadway premiere, the pair added in part, “We’re extremely saddened that the show, a decade-long labor of love for us, could ever become a source of confusion, anger or pain.”
Park and Aronson concluded that they “will continue our conversations as Maybe Happy Ending continues its journey onstage.”
Maybe Happy Ending follows Oliver and Claire, two life-like robots who develop a connection in late 21st century Seoul. After its Broadway debut, the show won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for Criss.
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