r/MaybeHappyEnding

Darren is doing a countdown post on instagram every day for his last 10 shows and it's amazing but killing me. Man I wish I got to see him play this part live. 😭 (I'm in Australia).

For those lucky enough to witness his Tony award winning performance first hand, please bring me some joy by sharing your favourite things about his take on the role. 🙏💜

Edit to fix typo.

Hi all,

I can't believe it's been almost a year since we had our epic Tony Tuesday meetup as fireflies, supporting MHE!

I'm going to be in town on Tony Tuesday again. Would anyone be interested in a firefly reunion? Similar to last year we could meet up before Broadway showtime and also afterwards.

I'll be seeing Ragtime this year on Tony Tuesday (Joshua Henry yassss!), and I know of some others seeing Lost Boys and Cats on that day...but still might be a fun reunion!

If anyone is interested, comment below :)

hello! i’ve seen the show 10 times and wanna see it one last time before darren leaves (i can’t go to his last show 😔). i was hoping to rush it with a friend but neither of us can go early. how has rush been recently? i haven’t really been seeing many reports. has anyone had success showing up around 2pm and grabbing a rush ticket? or do they typically run out by then? our budgets are $50 each so tkts/regular seats isn’t really an option.

MHE quickly became my favorite musical when I first saw it back in early previews. I sat alone in the last row of the center balcony (terrible seat from in-person rush) and still very much so fell in love with it. No one else was sitting near me so it felt like I was watching it by myself - the perfect recipe to sob for the entirety of the show. Left the theater in a sea of sniffles and red faces from crying. I felt like I was in an introspective trance for the following 2-3 days, processing the themes, the story, the beauty, the set design, the tech, the gorgeous orchestrations. Literally everything about it was perfect (as everyone on here already knows haha).

Second visit I bought center mezzanine seats in advance for my family for Christmas time. They all completelyyyy loved it, as expected. The seats were AMAZING! Mezzanine row E, dead center. Made me appreciate some of the lighting even more than when I was in the balcony. Energy was still high in the theater as this was a really new show at that point.

Third visit was center standing room the day after they won best musical at the Tonys! I got massive FOMO not being there that night so decided to go for whatever I could get considering it was sold out. The energy in the theater was INSANE! A lot of extra applause - when Darren said "was my acting that good" in Rainy Day We Met the theater exploded! Also Dez had the Tony on stage at one point (I missed it because of the mezzanine overhang, but definitely heard the reactions of everyone around me who could see it).

Fourth visit (yesterday evening) - I won the 2064 lottery!!! (Right mezz right row E seats 2 and 4) Been trying to get my best friend to see this show for a year and a half so really was entering so that I could finally get her to see it, especially before Darren Criss leaves. Wanted to share some thoughts I had.

• The energy from the audience was much lower than I thought it would be, especially being so close to Darren Criss's departure. Maybe it's because everyone was really serious and paying so close attention? But the claps after songs were sort of just regular clapping, not the high energy "woooo's" that you usually get. Except for literally one person in our section who was sort of obnoxious and had the same kind of energy as if it were the first post-tony win show. It was actually pretty distracting and annoying. For instance >!when the firefly scene was happening and the orchestra was revealed !<he was literally the only one who outwardly started clapping and wooing... it was strange, honestly wish he would have read the room a little better. I got chills and started tearing up during that scene as I usually do, but that one random guy sort of took me out of it. Maybe I say this as a heads up to anyone seeing this show on repeat to be mindful that people are there to see the show and experience it in their own ways, not hear the reaction of someone who clearly has seen the show multiple times.
• There weren't as many laughs as expected at the things that previously had the audience roaring. I'm wondering if it was just my audience. Hopefully the energy and laughs are up at a majority of other shows.
• Sat right mezzanine seats 2 and 4, the first two seats closest to the center aisle. This was the first time seeing the show from not dead center, and while the seats were fantastic, especially for the price (seriously $20 each are you kidding me??), I will say I could already see how anything other than center is truly truly a problem. Being just 2 seats in, I couldn't see the right walls of either room, and our seats otherwise were really close to center! It didn't prohibit enjoyment from any aspect of the show, we still basically saw everything at full view, but it was interesting to finally understand what a slightly side view really means for this show. I can definitely see how being more to the side would be quite limiting.
• First time seeing Clair Kwon - she was fantastic!! Honestly I felt her performance was fairly identical to Helen Shen's. Maybe slightly higher pitched at times, but otherwise looked, sounded, and acted exactly the same to me
• The harmonies during the song "Maybe Happy Ending" gave me more chills this time than any other previous viewing. It felt really impactful for a song that I already really connect with.
• >!I have always been pretty adamant that Claire erases her memories at the end, however this was the first time I potentially doubted it!! Claire Kwon had this sort of expression that made me doubt it and think maybe she didn't erase her memory, although overall I still sort of think she did. Helen always convinced me that her memories were erased every time I saw her. I know this is always up for debate, but just interesting that for the first time in 4 viewings, that I felt the spark of difference! !<
• My friend I took with me was sobbing by the end which made me happy haha. I knew she would love it, but getting a visceral reaction is always the goal! Right when it ended she goes "why would you do this to me!!!" as she wiped away her tears hahah.
• Overall the show is just simply as beautiful as it always has been. I hope so many more people get to continue seeing this show and being touched by it.
• Oh and last random tidbit, I am 38.5 weeks pregnant and am using this as my last Broadway show before baby gets here! I was kind of petrified I would go into labor during the show but thankfully I didn't!

He will be covering Oliver, James, AND Gil!!!

Apologies if this has been discussed here before but it’s always bothered/puzzled me why the Helperbots are allowed to keep going after being “retired” from use. If it’s a corporation providing their housing etc surely it’s not cheap. I thought it could be required as a “human” rights issue, but wouldn’t it actually arguably be more humane to NOT force them to live out their days waiting for their batteries to die? (The euthanasia debate comes in here I guess…)

Has anyone successfully made Oliver's Tote Bag? I've designed the decal for my Cricut, which I'm confident is close. The only thing I'm not sure about is whether the SJF is in a glow-in-the-dark yellow, or if that's just the lighting on stage.

But lastly, I'm having trouble finding a pre-made crossbody tote bag in yellow. I'm probably gonna be forced to sew one from scratch. Anyone have a good pattern, and any idea about the dimensions?

Thx in advance!

This is part of the free Broadway performances series that will be taking place at The Rink at Rockefeller Center every Thursday at noon from May 14th to June 4th. For information on the full series of performances, click here.