'People Have to Buy Tickets': Maybe Happy Ending Director Michael Arden on Fostering Original Musicals on Broadway

Michael Arden admits that he was nervous about bringing Maybe Happy Ending to Broadway. Even though the musical starred Golden Globe winner Darren Criss (and has now been nominated for 10 Tony Awards)—last fall, no one was sure it would survive past the year. It was an entirely new creation that wasn’t based on a preexisting story and had an original score by a team that was new to Broadway, nay America.

“The economics of Broadway are incredibly difficult, and the margins are really scary,�� admits the director, who was just nominated for a Tony Award for directing Maybe Happy Ending. “We're already dancing on the knife's edge a little bit anytime we do something new, especially not based on any IP and without big movie stars involved. It was high-risk, but everyone believed in the story so much.��

Arden, especially, had a huge amount of faith in the show—which stars Criss and newcomer Helen J Shen, who play two robots living in futuristic Seoul. After being retired by their owners from their main duties as HelperBots, the two find a new sense of purpose and a surprising connection in each other. Arden received the script for Maybe Happy Ending in 2017—the show by Hue Park and Will Aronson had been a hit in South Korea, and Hamilton producer Jeffrey Richards was interested in bringing it to the States.

“I read it and listened to it, and I was just overwhelmed,�� he recalls. “It was, like, tears streaming down my face.�� Because even though the story is, on the surface, about robots, it’s actually about something much deeper. “This is about first love and the end of life and our responsibilities to each other as humans…You start off thinking, ‘Oh, I'm not a robot.�� And by the end, you're like, 'I'm watching a play about myself.'��

Michael Arden and HwaBoon Heather Gershonowitz

In the years since, Arden had worked with Park and Aronson on translating the show from Korean to English and adapting it for American audiences. This includes modifying the ending of the original version slightly (spoiler alert: the Broadway version does away with showing the HelperBots physically falling apart). And while the original Korean version is bare bones in terms of set-design, Arden wanted to create a spectacle on the stage that’s worthy of Broadway—including moving set pieces, projections, turntables, and a set that can begin as a claustrophobic apartment and eventually open up to a sprawling forest. Arden consciously avoided watching any clips from the Korean production, so it wouldn't influence his creative decisions.

“It's a travel piece,�� explains Arden of the musical’s aesthetic. “So I really wanted to take the audience on a kind of cinematic journey through the road trip. And I wanted to do it in a way that was both classic and futuristic. I kind of started with the idea of how we consume media on our iPhones: It's in this vertical way, and we pinch and close tabs, and open tabs, and swipe left and right. That kind of inspired everything.��

Arden also oversaw the musical’s American premiere at Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, brought Criss onboard, and eventually became a producer on it via a collective he created with set designer Dane Laffrey called At Rise Creative. In short, Arden is dedicated to this oddball of a show. And he’s been rewarded for his efforts; Maybe Happy Ending has been nominated for the Best Musical Tony Award—meaning that as a producer on the show, Arden technically has two Tony nominations this year.

READ: Maybe Happy Ending Designer Dane Laffrey Likes to 'Push Dramatic Sequences to the Limit'

For Arden, who previously won a Tony for directing Parade, the critical and commercial success of Maybe Happy Ending has been a vindication. “I knew deep down that this was a story unlike any other,�� Arden says when asked how he kept the faith in the show since 2017. “I knew that these writers needed to be heard. I had to believe that, like, as hard as it was, that if something is that good, then people will see it. So this was certainly an exercise in faith for me and many of the people who worked on it, because it was really scary. We had no idea. We thought we might lose it all, and honestly, we still could.��

The likelihood of that is lower now. After struggling at the box office during previews back in the fall—so much so that there were rumors that the show might have closed right after opening—it is now consistently turning a profit every week. In fact, after Maybe Happy Ending received rave reviews among every single theatre critic in New York (the only show this season to do so), it massively turned its fortunes around.

Helen J Shen and Darren Criss in *Maybe Happy Ending* Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

Arden attributes this miracle to the fans, who have seen the show multiple times and have encouraged their family and friends. The show has even inspired its own Subreddit, with over 1,700 people gathering regularly to chat about it (they call themselves fireflies)—he calls them "the greatest gift" to the show. According to Arden, if musical theatre fans want more original, innovative work like Maybe Happy Ending on Broadway, they need to make it known with their wallets.

“People have to buy tickets to it,�� he says bluntly. “We [as artists] just have to keep making good work, and producers have to take risks on it, as do audiences. So, hopefully we can be a part of that and inspire other productions. And listen, I'm a big fan of BOOP! and Stranger Things—those are incredible theatre pieces. But it's inspiring to see new pieces like Dead Outlaw and Maybe Happy Ending, things that people are really taking risks on. And so I just hope that audiences put their money toward it.��

Like many creatives, Arden is always juggling multiple projects. He’s currently overseeing the Tony-winning revival of Parade (currently touring), the upcoming Queen of Versaille starring Kristin Chenoweth that’s opening at the St. James Theatre this fall, and a musical version of the 1987 vampire film The Lost Boys (that’s premiering in spring 2026). Arden confirms that, despite President Trump’s actions, Parade will still play its previously announced dates at the Kennedy Center this summer (August 19–September 7). “In some way, whoever is chair of the board is not really my concern. It's getting audiences to come see it, so that they can continue to ask questions and tell stories and search for the truth.�� He then adds, resolutely, “You have to tell the truth, no matter how scary it may be, though your voice shakes.��

And speaking of voices, for eagle-eared fireflies, be sure to listen closely next time you see Maybe Happy Ending. Though the show has four actors onstage every night, there’s a whole host of pre-recorded voices that add texture to the musical’s soundscape—that includes the voices of Nikki M. James as a Siri-like assistant, Andy Mientus as a retired HelperBot, and Arden himself as a radio weather announcer. They also all sing in the chorus for various songs. This makes the Maybe Happy Ending director's first acting credit in years. Exclaims Arden, laughing, “I act every night on Broadway, and my back feels great!��