Broadway hit adapted from a Korean musical caps winning streak at Tonys
This year’s Tony Awards marked a milestone for the musical "Maybe Happy Ending," a heartwarming South Korean robot romance that began its Broadway life at the Belasco Theatre in November 2024.
The production, whose origins go back to 2014 in a small theater in Seoul, emerged as one of the evening’s most celebrated winners, taking home six awards, including best musical and best leading actor in a musical for Darren Criss, and best direction of a musical for director Michael Arden.
Playwright and lyricist Park Chun-hue — also known as Hue Park — and composer Will Aronson, longtime collaborators for over a decade, won best book of a musical and best original score. "Maybe Happy Ending" also took home best scenic design of a musical.
Set in a near-future Seoul, “Maybe Happy Ending” follows the story of Oliver and Claire — two outdated HelperBot androids discarded by their human owners — who find each other and form a bond neither expected. Starring Darren Criss as Oliver and Broadway newcomer Helen J. Shen as Claire, the show blends science fiction with poignant emotional realism, bringing to life themes of connection, obsolescence and hope.
"The musical’s win marks the first successful transition of a small-scale Korean production from Seoul’s Daehangno theater district to a major Broadway stage, earning recognition for both its artistic excellence and commercial viability. It also stands as a historic milestone, as it is the first time a Korean creator has won Tony Awards in the musical categories for best book and best score," Choi Seung-youn, a South Korean musical critic and professor, told The Korea Herald on Monday.
The sweep by "Maybe Happy Ending" came as little surprise, as the season had already been a remarkable winning streak for the musical, originally written in Korean by playwright and lyricist Park with music by longtime collaborator Aronson.
The duo, known for their bilingual productions, saw their work earn six honors at the 69th Annual Drama Desk Awards, including outstanding musical. The show was also named best musical by the 89th New York Drama Critics' Circle and secured two major awards at the 91st Annual Drama League Awards: outstanding production of a musical and outstanding direction of a musical.
Formula for success
Experts say the success of "Maybe Happy Ending" is largely driven by its powerful universal themes.
Speaking last week at a conference at K-Musical Market, an annual showcase of Korean musicals, Sean Patrick Flahaven, chief theatricals executive of Concord Theatricals, remarked on the show’s strength in the licensing market: “It’s not so much dependent on being a Korean story as it's a more universal story. So I think that’s an important aspect to have — that a compelling specific story can have universality as well — and that kind of universality speaks to success in future licensing.”
The musical critic Choi shared that view. “This achievement owes much to the show’s universal themes. The story’s portrayal of love and friendship between soon-to-be obsolete beings resonates deeply with audience members,” she said.
Choi also emphasized the impact of Aronson’s refined and delicate score, particularly his enhancement of jazz numbers to give the music a distinctly “American” resonance for Broadway audiences. “Equally important were the meticulous scenic design and direction, which carefully rendered a digital world tailored to the emotional arc of the story,” she said.
“In the end, every element of the production came together in harmony to create a work of great beauty. And as a musical with a distinctly Korean identity, it also contributed meaningfully to Broadway’s ongoing conversation around diversity and representation,” she added.
The show’s origins go back to 2014, when it was developed with funding from Korea’s Wooran Foundation. It premiered in Seoul in 2016 and ran for five seasons in small theaters in Daehangno, before its English-language adaptation made it to New York's Belasco Theatre in November 2024.
During its development, the Broadway production generated anticipation with the involvement of producer Jeffrey Richards, an eight-time Tony Award winner.
Park and Aronson, who met in New York when Park was an international student at New York University, worked on four musicals together.
The duo’s recent project, "Il Tenore," which premiered in Seoul in 2023, also won top honors, including the grand prize and composition award at a major Korean musical awards ceremony.
Three decades of effort
Though Park is the first Korean national to win a Tony Award in the musical theater category, Korean musicals have been striving, through various forms and evolving strategies, to break into Broadway for more than three decades.
The first major push for a Korean musical to reach Broadway began with "The Last Empress," which premiered in 1995 and was invited to New York’s Lincoln Center in 1997. Although it wasn’t a full-scale commercial run, it marked the first Korean musical to appear on a US Broadway-affiliated stage. Efforts continued with tryouts and workshops in 2002, but a full Broadway debut never materialized. In 2003, the nonverbal hit Nanta became the first Korean production to enter Off-Broadway, later expanding to Las Vegas and London’s West End.
By the 2010s, Korean companies had shifted focus to investment-driven collaborations, with CJ ENM co-producing Broadway hits such as "Kinky Boots" (2013), "Moulin Rouge!" (2021) and "MJ the Musical" (2022), all of which received multiple Tony Awards.
In 2023, "The Great Gatsby," produced by Shin Chun-soo of OD Company, marked a new strategic step, with a Korean producer leading the development and financing of a Broadway-bound production from the ground up. The show officially opened on Broadway and later transferred to the West End.
Similarly, "Marie Curie," which premiered in Korea in 2020, was staged in London’s West End in 2023.
Following the musical's Tony Awards sweep, congratulations poured in from across Korea’s creative and political spheres.
At a press conference for "Squid Game" Season 3 in Seoul on Monday, director Hwang Dong-hyuk, who won best director for a drama series at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2022, said he was “pleasantly surprised” by the news.
“Among the four major awards ceremonies — the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tonys — I always thought the Tonys were the most distant," he said. "So I am incredibly proud to hear a Korean musical won such prestigious awards there."
President Lee Jae-myung also issued a statement celebrating the historic win. “This achievement is by no means the result of a single day’s effort. It is the culmination of the dedication, passion and creative determination shown by our cultural and artistic community over many years.
“Today’s Tony Award win is not the end, but a new beginning. I will do my utmost to ensure that more Korean artists thrive on the global stage, and that our culture continues to inspire and uplift people around the world.”
The president also emphasized the government’s role in supporting the arts, pledging to “further strengthen support for the culture and arts sector, and serve as a strong foundation so that our artists can fully pursue their dreams and shine on the world stage.”
gypark@heraldcorp.com
