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Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Maybe Happy Ending' director Michael Arden taps into the ‘universal heartbreak and joy' of his robot love story
"I think it's all about making sure that you're building a world for an audience ... and that you're making sure they're on the emotional ride that you want them to be on," explains Maybe Happy Ending director Michael Arden. For years, Arden has been one of the most prominent directors when it comes to reinventing worlds. He won a Tony Award for the recent revival of Parade, and earned additional nominations for his radical reimaginings of Once on This Island and Spring Awakening. But Maybe Happy Ending, which tells a near-future love story between two obsolete "Helperbots," marks the first time that Arden has directed a new musical on Broadway. More from GoldDerby Kieran Culkin Joins 'Sunrise on the Reaping' as Caesar Flickerman: Everything we know about 'The Hunger Games' prequel 'Monsters' stars on breaking furniture and bringing the Menendez case back into the spotlight Latest Tony Awards odds: 'Maybe Happy Ending' and 'Oh, Mary!' maintain their leads, Best Actress in a Musical tightens Speaking to Gold Derby, the director reveals what it was like to build a complex musical world from the ground up, and why he believes that this robot saga is actually about living. Gold Derby: What was it was about this script that hooked you the first time you read it? Michael Arden: It was that I started out feeling so distanced from the characters. Like, oh, these are robots in the future in Korea, that's nothing like me. And then by the time it was over, I thought, "Oh, that will be me one day in some way, shape, or form." I think that's what's so universal about the story, it kind of taps into the universal heartbreak and joy that is when you sign up to love, you sign up to lose. I just felt like I was watching my own life flash before my eyes through the lens of these strange robots, and I was so moved by that. Part of what makes the show so special is that you can't help but imprint your own experiences on these characters. Was that true for you as you created it? Definitely. I think what the writers have done so beautifully is that it is not overwritten in the slightest. They've left enough porous space in the material for you to fill in the blanks with your own experience. I think that's the show's magic in a way. You can be a teenager and project your first relationship onto it, or I've seen couples in their 90s who've come to see the show and are filling in the blanks with a lifetime of sadness and joy and hope and love. So it was certainly an interesting process in that almost every day there was a moment that just kind of brought me to my knees emotionally, because it was looking at a different chapter of love and of life. Making sure that we were both specific, and being universal enough to let everybody in, was the challenge and the fun of forming the piece. The world you've created combines this intimate sense of connection with huge technology and stagecraft. How did you reach that type of visual language? It was based upon the needs of the story. It's a really cinematic script, and either you kind of do it with two chairs and nothing, which I've heard is kind of what the Korean production does, or you have to go on the journey with these characters. And therefore we need to travel through all these spaces. We need to be in a car. We need to be on a ferry. We need to be in the woods. We need to go into the memories. So it wasn't that I set out to make something technological. In fact, everything we're doing is quite simple. It's just the coordination that makes it very complex. But we're just responding to the kind of widening lens of the perception of the world of these robots. It just felt like we had to respond to each chapter and each emotional beat physically. I felt it was important that the audience went on as much of an epic adventure as our robots did. The 'Chasing Fireflies' scene is a great example of what you're talking about. There's this grand reveal of the musicians and a lot of stagecraft involved, but it's quite simple in the emotion that it's conveying. How did you create that moment? In the script it says a firefly appears and then suddenly millions of fireflies appear. I think that's the only stage direction. I often take stage direction as metaphor and emotional suggestion. And I thought, "OK, well Oliver's greatest love is jazz, and it's because of his owner [Gil Brentley], which is because he loves people most of all. Fireflies are what Claire is most excited about because of what they represent, these kind of forest robots that don't ever need to charge. And even though they live briefly, there is a magic to it." So the metaphor to me became clear that it was connected to Gil Brentley and ultimately to other people. So having people be Gil Brantley's New Year's Eve Orchestra, as I kind of imagine in my mind, in the woods, seemed like an appropriate visual metaphor for that. And it's very simple. We open up an iris on the players who've been playing music all night, but somehow having them share space with our robots. … The human element is so powerful because we've been denied it all evening. We've just been stuck with the droids. But it reminds us that, oh, this thing is about life. The way I start and end the show visually is with an iris on [Oliver's plant] Hwa'Boon, who is kind of the witness to this story. He's the only living thing in those rooms. So he represents life because for me, the play is about living The chemistry between Darren Criss and Helen J Shen is integral to the story. What was it like working with them and charting their characters' relationship? Incredible in so many ways. They're both so curious and hardworking and really listen to each other and surprise each other. It's been so exciting to watch their performances grow over the course of the run. Helen is just such a pro, I can't believe this is their Broadway debut. It's really shocking because they're wise beyond their years. And Darren is just so meticulous and so curious and obsessive that it's sort of perfect for the role of Oliver, and he's just so good physically. I'm the choreographer of the show, so it was fun to get to work with them both physically and find the differences between the models that way. And then they've just really flown with it since opening it. The show has become a true word-of-mouth success. What is it like to experience this strong reaction from fans? It's the best part. Honestly. For many years we all believed in it so much. We knew that if we can just get people to see this, surely they will be as moved by it as we are. But we didn't quite expect the outpouring of love. I think what we've noticed is that people kind of leave the theater a bit more open and tender when they came in. And the most miraculous part is they have shared that, and invited their friends, and called their parents and said: go see the show. And they come back. It's just so rewarding because doing a musical is hard, especially doing a new musical with no nothing to kind of cling onto and a tagline that's probably somewhat alienating for many. So the fact that we are seeing such a swell of love and support is one of the most beautiful things. I stand in the back and see people holding hands and gasping and wiping their eyes as they leave the theater. It's just so rewarding to think, oh, we were right. I'm glad we didn't give up. We all feel just kind of … the word isn't disbelief because we all believed in it. I think it's just gratitude. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions Best of GoldDerby Who Needs a Tony to Reach EGOT? Sadie Sink on her character's 'emotional rage' in 'John Proctor Is the Villain' and her reaction to 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow' 'It should be illegal how much fun I'm having': Lea Salonga on playing Mrs. Lovett and more in 'Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends' Click here to read the full article.
Los Angeles Times
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Director Michael Arden is no longer Broadway's best kept secret
For too long, director Michael Arden was the best kept secret in the American theater. Insiders knew he was good. But it took a while to appreciate just how good. In a series of long-shot successes, beginning with the 2015 Broadway revival of 'Spring Awakening' with Deaf West Theatre, Arden has proved himself to be an expert at solving complex musical riddles. His 2017 Tony-winning revival of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's 'Once on This Island' not only made the 1990 musical politically viable in an era more scrupulous about racial representation and cultural appropriation, but the vibrancy of the staging uncovered new realms of enchantment. 'Parade,' Alfred Uhry and Jason Robert Brown's 1998 musical about a historic miscarriage of justice involving a Jewish man wrongly accused of murder in the Jim Crow South, was considered a succès d'estime. Arden's Tony-winning revival showed just how short-sighted this was. His thrilling production, which arrives at the Ahmanson on June 17, managed to convert even some of the musical's most vociferous doubters. The Tonys acceptance speech he delivered, passionately addressed to the queer community, capped off the triumph with defiant dignity. This season, Arden has given Broadway its most surprising and heartwarming new musical, 'Maybe Happy Ending.' The show, which originated in South Korea, is a futuristic rom-com about two robots nearing the end of their life cycles who meet, fall head over heels and are forced to confront difficult questions about love and loss. Nominated for 10 Tony Awards, 'Maybe Happy Ending' exemplifies the qualities that have made the 42-year-old Arden not just an acknowledged Broadway maestro but a collaborative visionary. With scenic designer Dane Laffrey, his producing partner and frequent collaborator, Arden has formed At Rise Creative, dedicated to exploring 'dynamic storytelling with innovative design and technology.' Not all the projects that At Rise has a hand in are ones that Arden is slated to direct. This Broadway season the company was a co-producer of 'The Roommate' starring Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone as well as of Jamie Lloyd's kinetic revival of 'Sunset Blvd.' starring Nicole Scherzinger. Being on the front end of projects has given Arden a window onto how make-or-break artistic decisions are made. At Rise is a clear sign of his holistic approach to his work. He doesn't limit himself to what happens in the rehearsal room. He cares about the artwork for a show and how it's marketed, for example. And he wants his company members to feel part of a collective concern. 'I approach directing as a truly collaborative process,' he said. 'I want the actors not just to feel but to be immediately included in the work we are making. And I want the design, the visual part of the production, to be at the forefront along with questions about what story we're telling and why we are telling it.' He described his relationship with Laffrey in ways that sounded refreshingly non-territorial. 'He has a director's mind and I have a designer's mind,' he said. 'And we kind of yin-yang together.' Boundaries are necessary and hierarchies serve a purpose, but creativity depends on flexibility. 'Because it's an industry filled with wildly talented and complex minds, I say, 'Stay out of your lane.' Because oftentimes that's where the magic happens.' Wearing a sweatshirt from his alma mater, Juilliard, Arden was coming to the end of a long day at the midtown Manhattan studio he's been using. 'I don't really live here,' he joked, as he reached into a nearby suitcase for a change of clothes after our interview. Evening had fallen, but his day was far from done. In addition to the frenzy of 'Maybe Happy Ending' and the touring excitement of 'Parade,' Arden has two new Broadway musicals in the works. In the fall, 'The Queen of Versailles,' an adaptation of the Lauren Greenfield documentary starring Kristin Chenoweth, opens at the St. James Theatre. And in spring 2026, 'The Lost Boys,' based on Joel Schumacher's 1987 cult film, is set to open at the Palace Theatre. Yes, it's daunting to bring two new musicals to Broadway in such close proximity, but Arden is relieved that they couldn't be more different. 'Because it feels as if I have to work on both at the same time, it's a little like 'Severance,' ' he said. 'I get in the elevator and then come out the other side and exercise a totally different part of my brain and aesthetic sensibilities.' Arden's artistic calling manifested early. 'I grew up in a trailer park in Midland, Texas, and used to force all the neighbor kids to do plays that I guess I directed,' he said. 'Mostly it was an excuse to set things on fire. The fact that there's not much live flame at the end of my work these days is shocking to me.' His obsession with the stage was cultivated at a youth theater company. 'I loved every facet of it,' he said. 'I would build sets in my grandparents' garage. So I was interested in mise-en-scène even before I was acting. But then once I was able to perform, I completely fell in love with it.' The arts brought forth opportunities that otherwise would not have been there. He won a scholarship to Juilliard and was firmly on the acting track. 'Juilliard is so intense that it's like if you are an actor, it's all you must do,' he said. 'It must be your Holy Grail, and I definitely followed that for a while.' Arden was still at Juilliard when he was cast in the 2003 Broadway revival of 'Big River.' This Roundabout Theatre Company production with Deaf West Theatre was directed by Jeff Calhoun, who became a crucial mentor. Coincidentally, 'Big River' was the first musical Arden had seen growing up in Texas. That community theater production lit a flame in him. This landmark production with Deaf West opened a magic door. 'Jeff gave me my break, really,' Arden said. 'He directed the Deaf West 'Pippin' at the Mark Taper Forum, which I also did, and then I kind of followed in his footsteps. I learned so much working with deaf actors and about deaf treatment of material through my work with him. He also taught me a lot about stage pictures and movement and transitions — he's a fantastic director, obviously. I credit him with my start both as an actor and as a director.' The Taper production of 'Pippin' convinced Arden to give L.A. a go. He joked that he came out for the musical, but stayed for the weather. 'I did some film and TV work, but then ended up not working for a year,' he said. While working behind the counter of a gift shop in Los Feliz, he wrote a play for all his unemployed actor friends to be in. To get the production off the ground, he formed a theater collective, aptly named the Forest of Arden. 'That was the first thing that I directed,' he said. 'It was an adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's 'La Ronde.' It was a site-specific, immersive, promenade production, highly illegal. I'm shocked we weren't all arrested for doing it.' Schnitzler led straight to Frank Wedekind. When Deaf West asked if Arden would be interested in directing for the company, he had a title already in mind, 'Spring Awakening.' Arden had been chatting with his husband, actor Andy Mientus, about the Tony-winning musical by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater spun from Wedekind's drama. 'And that became my first ever real directing job and only the second thing I ever directed,' he said. The Deaf West production of 'Spring Awakening' had its premiere at Inner-City Arts in downtown L.A. in 2014. The next year the production opened at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills to rave reviews, paving the way to Broadway and a Tony nomination for musical revival. Arden wasn't quite able to crack the Stephen Sondheim-George Furth puzzle that is 'Merrily We Roll Along' at the Wallis in 2016. But he had a novel triumph with 'Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol', powered by the protean virtuosity of Jefferson Mays in the unforgettable 2018 Geffen Playhouse premiere that launched a new holiday classic for savvy theater lovers. The road to becoming one of today's most sought-after Broadway directors didn't just pass through L.A. Arden was intimately acquainted with the city's creative byways. New York is once again home, but Arden is too much a maverick to fall into the establishment trap. He wants to shape his own artistic destiny. It's a main reason he started At Rise Creative with Laffrey. 'In terms of my own work, I wanted a seat at the table,' Arden said. 'Often the director is kept at arm's length from the producing. My North Star is Hal Prince. The way he thought about his work, not just from a director's point of view but also from a producer's point of view, really interested Dane and me. We want to be able to support work that we want New York to see.' That matters not just to New York but to the rest of the world because what happens on Broadway isn't confined to the city's theater district. Arden is thrilled that his production of 'Parade' is going to Ahmanson. 'I've worked at the Taper as an actor. And I almost had a show at the Ahmanson with 'Once on This Island,' but it got canceled because of COVID-19. So I feel really fortunate that 'Parade' will be there.' He has been keeping close tabs on the touring production, not wanting his handiwork to get smudged in transit. Arden, to state the obvious, cares too much to be blasé about the quality of his work. Did he by chance see the production of 'Parade' at the Taper in 2009 that originated at London's Donmar Warehouse? Arden admitted that he not only saw it but had auditioned for it. So how did he brilliantly succeed where other directors only managed earnest respectability? Simplicity, he said, is what saved him. 'It's an epic, sprawling musical, and I was tasked with rehearsing it in two weeks and mounting it in a day and a half at New York City Center,' he said. 'So that was the first hurdle. And honestly, what a good one, because it forced me to think, What is the simplest way of doing this? How can I tell this really complex story with a ton of characters and a lot of historical specifics? There's a trial, for God's sake. How can I tell this clearly and yet keep it emotional?' For all of Arden's showman proclivities, his passion for innovative design and kinetic sceneography, he never loses sight of a work's beating heart. It is for this reason that 'Maybe Happy Ending,' which stars a perfectly matched Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen, is favored to win the Tony for musical this year. Visually, this musical about nonhuman characters resembles at moments the screen of an iPhone, but the humanity of the story is always in sight. 'Technology can never overshadow the actor unless there's some specific reason,' he said. 'That was kind of my guiding principle.' Arden reflected on the unique challenge posed by the musical: 'How do you design the future?' The answer Laffrey and he came up with involved remembering the past. 'We're always looking for ways to look forward and backward at the same time,' Arden said. 'The futuristic design, you'll notice, is very retro. It's a meld of old and new that hopefully makes it classic. You have to look in all directions for inspiration while supporting the story and allowing the audience to focus on the actors.' This prescription might actually constitute Arden's directorial signature. No one would call him a minimalist, but his holy of holies is not to allow his productions to eclipse his performers. 'I have to be really honest with myself and ask whether I'm trying to get my name or the characters' names in the review,' he said. 'I think the characters have to win.'
Boston Globe
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
For Paul Daigneault, a final show that returns to one of SpeakEasy's most produced playwrights
The 'Man of No Importance' of the title is Alfie Byrne (award-winning actor Eddie Shields), a closeted city bus conductor in Dublin in the mid-1960s who finds artistic fulfillment reciting Oscar Wilde's poetry to his passengers and directing an amateur theater company in his parish church. The story captures a specific moment in Alfie's life, when his efforts to mount a production of Wilde's 'Salome' coincide with his first steps out of the closet, both of which are publicly thwarted. The musical's conceit is that the director becomes the star of his own story, with the passengers and members of his theater troupe serving as a kind of Greek chorus. Additional company members include award winners Aimee Doherty and Jennifer Ellis. 'This musical has so many layers,' Daigneault says. 'It's about someone who is inspired by art, who is trying to find his authentic self. It's also about the power of community. In this case, a community of performers.' Creating a theater community resonates with Daigneault, whose production of 'A Man of No Importance' marks his final bow as founder and artistic director of SpeakEasy Stage. 'I'm never happier than when I'm in the rehearsal room,' Daigneault says, acknowledging that parallel with the protagonist. 'But, unlike Alfie, I'm lucky to be a person who has always lived an authentic life.' Advertisement Kathy St. George, center, during a scene-ending musical number during rehearsal in SpeakEasy Stage Co's production of "A Man of No Importance." JOSH REYNOLDS FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE/Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe Daigneault first directed the musical, which was created by composer Stephen Flaherty and lyricist Lynn Ahrens ('Ragtime,' 'Once on This Island,' 'Anastasia'), in 2003 in a SpeakEasy co-production with Súgán Theatre Company. The cast included Nancy E. Carroll and Sarah deLima, both of whom have since passed away, as well as Kerry Dowling and Billy Meleady, both of whom return in this production. The musical was adapted from a 1994 film of the same name that starred Albert Finney, and 'What I love about this show is the opportunity to assemble a talented cast with young actors learning so much from older, experienced performers,' Daigneault says. 'It's also more of a play with music, with Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens changing musical styles to fit the story.' Meleady, a Dublin native who is reprising the role of Baldy, the sometime stage manager of theater troupe, says the musical resonates with him in different ways two decades later. 'Of course I'm older, and have had different experiences, but the details the show captures in the lyrics to 'The Streets of Dublin,' the emotion of 'The Cuddles Mary Gave' [about Baldy's late wife], and the relationships feel so much deeper,' he says. Dowling, who has been friends with Daigneault since they were undergraduates at Boston College (along with fellow cast member McGarrahan), and helped launch SpeakEasy Stage, says the first rehearsal was understandably bittersweet because it marked the end of an era for SpeakEasy as well as the loss of two of the original cast members. Advertisement 'At the same time,' she says, 'this new group of people looks and feels different, the script has been revised and Paul takes a fresh approach to the scenes, driven by this group of people in the room. What I love about being directed by Paul is his ability to make every member of the company feel needed and important.' While Daigneault admits that over the years, his company's theatrical choices sometimes explored controversial topics, he says, 'I never set out to make political statements or create change. Alfie's art feeds his soul and helps other people think. That's what the best theater does.' Daigneault says the joy of working on this musical again is the opportunity to discover new elements of these complex characters. 'This show celebrates the ways in which goodness and grace can prevail in this world,' he says. 'It's easy to dismiss people by tacking on a label, but once you get to know someone, grace always prevails.' A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company, in the Robert Theatre at the Calderwood Pavilion, Tremont St., Boston. Feb. 21-March 22. Tickets: $20-$85. 617-933-8600. 'As You Like It' on Boston Common William Shakespeare's romantic comedy 'As You Like It,' returns to Boston Common this July-August as the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company's annual free production. CSC founder and artistic director Steven Maler will direct. Casting and production team members will be announced soon. Advertisement Meanwhile, Associate Artistic Director
