'Maybe Happy Ending' wins 6 Tonys, including Best Musical

The cast and crew of "Maybe Happy Ending" accept the award for Best Musical at the 78th Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York, Sunday (local time). Reuters-Yonhap

Composer Will Aronson and lyricist Hue Park's "Maybe Happy Ending" took home six honors, including the Best Musical, during the 78th Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, Sunday (local time).

This is the first time an original musical that was created and premiered in Korea has won at the prestigious musical awards.

The duo also bagged Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score Written for the Theatre together.

"This season is full of artists working in totally different styles and we are so honored to be among them," Park said in his acceptance speech for Best Original Score. "We tried to blend Korean indie pop, American jazz, modern classical and traditional Broadway, a melting pot of sensibilities, and we are so grateful the Broadway community has embraced us."

With the win, Park became the first Korean national to receive the prestigious award, though Korean American artists have previously been recognized.

Will Aronson, left, and Hue Park accept the Best Book of a Musical award for "Maybe Happy Ending" at the 78th Annual Tony Awards pre show in New York, Sunday (local time). Reuters-Yonhap

Darren Criss won Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his portrayal of Helperbot Oliver; Michael Arden won the Best Direction for a Musical; and Dane Laffrey and George Reeve received Best Scenic Design in a Musical for this show.

"I'm so honored to receive this award for this magical, melodical, beautiful, heartfelt, humane musical that has been thrilling audiences at the Belasco Theatre since last fall. And I wanna salute ... our authors, Will Aronson and Hue Park, our brilliant director, Michael Arden," producer Jeffrey Richards said as he accepted the Best Musical award.

Co-created by Aronson and Park, “Maybe Happy Ending” has been beloved in Korea since its premiere in 2016. Set in the near future in Seoul, the story follows two outdated Helperbots, Oliver and Claire, who develop an unexpected relationship at an apartment for obsolete helper robot models.

Since its Broadway debut in November 2024, the production — starring Criss as Oliver and Helen J. Shen as Claire — has garnered glowing reviews and enthusiastic audience reactions, ultimately securing 10 Tony Award nominations.

Hwaboon the plant from "Maybe Happy Ending" appears in the press room with the awards for Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical during the 78th Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, Sunday (local time). AP-Yonhap

"Will Aronson and Hue Park wrote a perfect musical and it dares us to love with radical abandon despite the fact that we know we have shelf lives," Arden said upon receiving the Best Direction of a Musical award. "It reminds us that compassion is the antidote for isolation and that empathy is not a weakness, but it is a gift in our shared responsibility. The experience of live theater confirms that no matter how different we may be from one another, we are all connected and we are all here and in it together in this brief, beautiful life."

In the lead-up to the Tonys, "Maybe Happy Ending" swept several major theater honors — including the Drama Desk Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards and Drama League Awards — cementing its reputation as one of the most original and emotionally resonant musicals of the season.

The Korean production is set to return to the Doosan Art Center in Seoul in October.

A scene from "Maybe Happy Ending" on Broadway / Courtesy of Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

Creative partners

"I met Hue when he was studying at NYU (New York University) as an international student. And it changed my life. We've written four shows together now. We've worked across the country and the world and now we're even here giving a speech in front of Keanu Reeves," Aronson said in his acceptance speech.

Aronson and Park began their creative partnership in 2012 with the Korean musical "Bungee Jump." "Maybe Happy Ending," which they co-developed with support from Korea’s Wooran Foundation, marks their second collaboration.

The Wooran Foundation also served as a producer for the Broadway production, alongside Korean ticket platform NHN Link Corp.

Beyond "Maybe Happy Ending," the duo has continued to explore Korean themes and history in their work. Their musical "Il Tenore" follows a group of students staging Korea’s first opera under Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule, while "Ghost Bakery" is a romantic comedy set in 1960s Korea about a passionate young baker who receives unexpected help from a ghost.

Darren Criss, left, and Helen J. Shen, right, perform a number from "Maybe Happy Ending" at the 78th Annual Tony Awards in New York City, Sunday (local time). Reuters-Yonhap

"Maybe Happy Ending" was developed in both Korean and English, undergoing parallel creative processes tailored to the market and expectations of audiences in Korea and on Broadway.

Broadway producer Rachel Sussman attributed the show’s stateside success to its deep understanding of the market.

“I think one of the things that has been successful for ‘Maybe Happy Ending’ as a show and for an artist like Helen Park, who has had success on Broadway with ‘KPOP’ and is now writing other musicals — they have knowledge of how the American process works,” she said during a recent interview with The Korea Times.

In the case of “Maybe Happy Ending,” that process was built into the creative team itself — a Korean-American duo who, following the premiere in Korea, went through readings and workshops typical of the Broadway development process.