Stand by and deliver. That’s what a group of Broadway stars in the making are doing at Maybe Happy Ending, Will Aronson and Hue Park’s six-time Tony Award-winning Best Musical about two humanoid robots, Oliver and Claire, who fall in love.
So when cast members like Tony winner Darren Criss, who stars as Oliver through May 17, must miss a performance, they’re more than covered. The roles are in the great hands of the show’s standbys, actors who are ever-ready to step up.
“Standbys are the not-so-secret life force of what we do as an industry,” director Michael Arden told New York Theatre Guide. “The show does go on eight times a week.”
“The only way that happens is through the work and dedication of not only the standbys,” he added, “but the stage managers and the associates who make sure they’re ready to go.”
After all, the show must go on, but actors also take vacations, have special events, and get sick. Maybe Happy Ending’s standbys typically get ample advance word of when they’ll be on. Maintenance rehearsals every few weeks keep them ever-ready to hit their marks as Oliver and Claire, as well as Oliver’s ex-owner James (played by Marcus Choi) and jazz crooner Gil Brentley (Dez Duron).
At the Belasco Theatre, where the show is nearly 18 months into its hit run, the standbys share one dressing room. They’re all there during each performance, just in case.
All of them told New York Theatre Guide they’ve been given room to put their own stamps on their characters, not just duplicate the full-time actors’ approaches. You can even see that individualized philosophy during the show’s projected flashback scenes: Early in the rehearsal period, the production filmed every possible combination of actors to match who’s on stage any given night.
Get to know the Maybe Happy Ending standbys and how they help keep the show humming below. Then, get tickets to the show — where you might see them in action. You’ll be happy you did.
Get Maybe Happy Ending tickets now.