#will aronson

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HELEN J SHEN AND DARREN CRISS - ♪ The Rainy Day We Met, ♪ When You're in Love | Maybe Happy Ending: Tiny Desk Concert | March 05, 2026 | 🎥 NPR Music

[datshitrandom]

Maybe Happy Ending | 78th Annual Tony Awards | June 08, 2025 | 📸 by Mike Coppola, Arturo Holmes, Jemal Countess, John Nacion

Best Musical Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical (Darren Criss) Best Direction of a Musical (Michael Arden) Best Book of a Musical (Will Aronson and Hue Park) Best Original Score (Will Aronson and Hue Park) Best Scenic Design of a Musical (Dane Laffrey and George Reeve)

[oliversjazz]

never going to be normal about this show

[d-criss-news]

Maybe Happy Ending: Tiny Desk Concert | NPR Music

Mitra I. Arthur | March 5, 2026 What can robots teach us about humanity and about love? Maybe Happy Ending, the 2025 Tony Award winner for best musical, tells the unlikely story of two humanoid robots, portrayed by Helen J. Shen (Claire) and Darren Criss (Oliver), as they fall in love while on a road trip. The show’s creators, Hue Park and Will Aronson, fill the musical with a sense of yearning, not specifically for romance (though that does happen), but for connection and self-actualization: Our heroes try to understand what it means to actually live once your purpose for existing is over. Backed by a ten-person orchestra, the four cast members present selections from the show at the Tiny Desk. The repeated whimsical refrain of “Where You Belong” pulls us into Olivier’s imagined reunion with his former owner James, portrayed by Marcus Choi. The banter between Shen and Criss for “The Rainy Day We Met” is charming — and just a glimpse into how perfectly they play off each other. Park and Aronson introduce “A Sentimental Person,” performed by Dez Duron who plays the suave, Sinatra-esq jazz crooner Gil Brentley. Brentley serves as a musical avatar for Criss’ “Oliver,” facilitating the complex emotions that Oliver is unable to articulate. They close the set with “When You’re in Love,” a tear jerker of a duet from Criss and Shen. And as the music swells, you’re right there with them in the moment: They don’t have to wait for an invitation to your heart; they, and this show, are there already.

SET LIST “Where You Belong” “The Rainy Day We Met” “A Sentimental Person” “When You’re in Love” MUSICIANS Darren Criss: vocals Helen J. Shen: vocals Dez Duron: vocals Marcus Choi: vocals Will Aronson: emcee, writer Hue Park: emcee, writer John Yun: keys, conductor, music director Cenovia Cummins: violin Rachel Handman Robison: violin Orlando Wells: viola Jessica Wang: cello Conrad Korsch: bass Joshua Mark Samuels: drums, glockenspiel, malletKAT Rick Heckman: clarinet, alto sax, piccolo John Bailey: trumpet, flugelhorn Julie Dombroski-Jones: trombone

[dorothy16]

darrencriss Hi, Tiny Desk…🤖🎶

Thanks so much again NPR Music for knocking on our door

[sillyname30]

lee_minjin: Back stage. Hue and Will wrote a stunning Broadway musical and received *10* Tony nominations. I love *Maybe Happy Ending* with all my heart. Darren, Helen, Marcus, and Dez give extraordinary, transcendent performances. There were terrific cameos with @arden_cho and @youngmazino . I cried and laughed with recognition at the beauty and power of this deeply human story of obsolete robots. Then a perfect dinner at my younger brother Simon’s restaurant. Finally saw my cutting board. 👀 I love my beautiful family. 🥹 You inspire me.

[ipwarn]

Incase anyone missed Act One of the Tonys. They have started uploading the speeches.

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when you say "Maybe Happy Ending," I do go, it's maybe happy beginning yet again.

DARREN CRISS - "Maybe Happy Ending" actor and composer on the musical that's captivating Broadway | July 29, 2025 | 🎥 PBS NewsHour