百老匯版《也許美好結局》上演

小瓊：我對上海的朋友們肅然起敬！我熟知韓國音樂劇界的欣欣向榮，而中國的同行們也在積極地研究如何效仿韓國推動市場的發展。上海更是走在了行業的前列：2021年，上海的觀眾已經欣賞到了音樂劇《也許美好結局》的中文版。就在上個月，這部音樂劇登陸百老匯，好評如潮！

小薇：我還記得中文版《也許美好結局》的宣傳報道——一個關于發生在未來時空，住在首爾的兩個幫助型機器人（非人類！）之間的故事。事實上，這部作品的中文版在中國非常成功，不但在上海多輪上演，還巡演到全國各地。這部作品韓文原版的全球首演于2016年（在韓國），一炮而紅。

小瓊：該作品由威爾·阿倫森作曲，樸天銝作詞，兩人共同編劇，早在2014年就以韓文和英文兩種版本孵化，兩年后獲得了6項韓國音樂劇大賞。2017年，這部音樂劇的英文版獲得了美國藝術與文學學院頒發的理查德·羅杰斯制作獎。

小薇：要將劇目搬演至百老匯，確實需要多年的準備。新冠疫情暴發前，英文版制作先在亞特蘭大的聯盟劇院開演。顯然，制作方是有計劃將這部作品搬到百老匯的，但不得不等上幾年。

小瓊：《也許美好結局》百老匯版的制作大幅增加了投入！我看到擔綱主角（或者應該說，男主角助手機器人）的不是別人，正是達倫·克里斯，一個擁有眾多粉絲的電視明星，他因在《歡樂合唱團》中展現出的音樂才華而聲名鵲起。和他演對手戲的是沈雨田，飾演他的意中人（女主角助手機器人）。克里斯的母親是菲律賓人，所以他有著亞洲血統；而沈雨田出生在新澤西州的一個華裔家庭。這部作品現在已經舉起百老匯音樂劇界亞洲代表的大旗！

小薇：但是音樂劇明星是如何培養出來的呢？我看到克里斯和沈雨田是密西根大學音樂劇系的校友，而阿倫森和樸天銝是在紐約大學帝勢藝術學院音樂劇寫作研究生課程進修時認識的。

小瓊：任何音樂劇作品都制作團隊集全體之力，并且在積累大量的演出經驗之后才能取得成果。對這部作品來說，為了搬演至百老匯，還增加了大量美國爵士樂元素（與歌手德茲·杜隆合作）。從許多方面來說，這都是一場勝利！

Joan： I’m in awe of my Shanghai friends！ I’ve known about the boom on the Korean musical scene and how China is actively engaged in similar development. Shanghai is so ahead of its time： In 2021， Shanghai audiences already enjoyed the Chinese-language version of Maybe Happy Ending. Just last month， this musical landed on Broadway with fantastic reviews！

Valery： I remember publicity around Maybe Happy Ending in China—a story about two Helperbots （i.e.， not humans！） who live in Seoul sometime in the future. Actually， the show has been so successful in China it has appeared in Shanghai in multiple runs as well as toured around the country. The world premiere of this work （in Korean， in Korea） took place in 2016 and was an instant hit.

Joan： The show had music by Will Aronson， lyrics by Hue Park and a book by both. It was developed in both Korean and English as early as 2014 and won six Korean Musical Awards two years later. By 2017， the English-version of the musical won the Richard Rodgers Production Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Valery： It does take many years to develop something for Broadway. The American out-of-town tryout took place in Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre right before COVID. Clearly there were plans to move this production to Broadway， but we had to wait a few years.

Joan： Broadway productions increase the stakes so much more！ I see the leading role （should I say， leading Helperbot） is played by none other than Darren Criss， a TV star with a huge following who rose to prominence for his musical talents in Glee. Playing opposite him as his love interest （the female helper robot） is Helen J. Shen. Criss’s mother is Filipina， so he has Asian heritage； and Helen Shen was born in New Jersey of a Chinese-American family. This production now becomes an icon of Asian representation on Broadway’s musical front！

Valery： But how are musical stars made？ I see the Criss and Shen were alumni of the University of Michigan’s musical theatre program. And Aronson and Park met when they were students at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts’ Graduate Musical Theatre Writing program.

Joan： It does take a village—and much accumulated experience—for any musical production to come to fruition. For Broadway， the production was tweaked to increase the American jazz element （with singer Dez Duron）. On many fronts， it’s a triumph！