Anchor: The original South Korean musical “Maybe Happy Ending” has won six honors at the 78th Tony Awards, including best musical. Co-written by Park Chun-hue and Will Aronson, the musical also won awards for best book, best original score, best direction, best performance by an actor in a leading role, and best scenic design at New York’s Radio City Music Hall on Sunday.
Kim Bum-soo has more.  

Report: 
[Sound bite: The 78th Tony Awards]
“The Tony Award goes to … ‘Maybe Happy Ending!’”

It was certainly a happy ending for the rom-com “Maybe Happy Ending” at Sunday’s Tony Awards, winning six honors, including best musical. 

Starring Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen, the musical tells the story of two decommissioned robots and their romantic relationship in Seoul in the distant future.

Co-written by Park Chun-hue, better known as Hue Park, and Will Aronson, the musical also won awards for best book, best original score, best direction, best scenic design and best actor.

[Sound bite: The 78th Tony Awards]
“And the Tony Award goes to …  Darren Criss!”

[Sound bite: Actor Darren Criss]
“The real hero about this — for this remarkable journey is my wife, Mia, who took a massive swing on allowing me to do this and to allow this crazy upheaval in our life, to make this logistically possible, and for bearing the brunt of raising two tiny friends under three, so that I could raise a singing robot at the Belasco Theatre eight times a week.”

[Sound bite: Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen performing in the musical “Maybe Happy Ending”]

The original Korean-language version launched in a small-scale production in the Daehangno theater district in Seoul in 2016 and enjoyed great popularity among South Korean fans before the show went abroad. 

[Sound bite: Park Chun-hue and Will Aronson]
“Yeah, this is surreal. I think, I mean, this is all thanks to our, you know, audience, fans, who we call the Fireflies. So thank you, Fireflies. … It’s amazing. So I guess all the bickering and fighting and yelling at each other was in both languages. Yeah, because we wrote the show in two languages, Korean and English. So yeah, we were fighting in two languages.” 

Park and Aronson made their Broadway debuts with the musical in November last year when it opened in English under the direction of Michael Arden.

The musical’s Broadway run has been extended through January 17, 2026, amid rave reviews and much hype among U.S. fans.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.