SCRIPTED EMOTIONS

DARREN CRISS is no stranger to the spotlight. But, does his latest role in Broadway’ Maybe Happy Ending solidify his place within the ranks of Filipino theater legends?

- ISIAH MAGSINO

O liver, the main character in the Broadway musical Maybe Happy Ending, would be confused by the actor who plays him.

See, Oliver is a robot dubbed “helper bot” with a classic Type A personality: rigid in his ways and painfully calculated. He exists in Seoul in the distant future, where these bots are essentially humanoid versions of our current cell phones.

Oliver has only one mission in life, which is to reunite with his human who left him in an apartment complex where other thrown-out bots reside. (Think of how your old blackberries are stashed away in some random cabinet drawer.) His only friend is a plant named HwaBoon, who, audiences come to learn, is the most important character in the show.

The actor who brings this robot to life is Darren Criss who is anything but one-track-minded. The Filipino-American’s personal curiosity and dynamic career tell this best. Was it Glee where you first got to know his dark locks and melodic voice? Or, did you first see him hit the stage on Broadway in How to Succeed in Business Without Trying (2012)? Perhaps it was his role in Ryan Murphy's Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018).

His portrayal as Andrew Cunanan, the killer of the late fashion designer, earned him an Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG award and placed him as one the few actors to earn the trifecta. Unlike Criss, Oliver has only had one job during his entire battery life.

Yet, Criss breathes life into his mechanical character on stage as if he knows what it's like to operate like a robot. But, perhaps he does. Perhaps, we, including those who have continuously waved a finger to Ai and ChatGPT, all do.

“Think of Aesop fables or Greek Mythology,” he tells