MAYBE HAPPY ENDING(s). There are at least three of them in this alternately sweet and cloying show. Much of what’s here is beautifully judged, but the show routinely toggles between appealingly modest and slight. What’s satisfying about it (the performances, the direction, and, especially, the design elements) is mitigated by the somewhat hackneyed story (robots in love and loss). Still, even as the tension between its component parts isn’t really successfully negotiated, what’s here is a creditable contrast to the the usual Broadway musical bombast. This is, mercifully, not an overwrought show. It doesn’t come for you but trusts that you can find your way into it. If the score lacks variety, it’s also pleasingly understated. It will be heartening if MAYBE HAPPY ENDING can find an audience. And one ending. |