Broadway
Broadway Love Story! Andrew Barth Feldman Joins Girlfriend Helen J. Shen in ‘Maybe Happy Ending’
Step aside, Eva Noblezada and Reeve Carney, a new Broadway couple is stepping into the spotlight.
On July 24, Maybe Happy Ending announced the new male lead who will be taking on the role of Oliver, opposite Helen J. Shen’s Claire. Keeping Oliver in the musical TV show family, Glee star Darren Criss will be passing down the role of Maybe Happy Ending‘s new HelperBot-3 to none other than High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star Andrew Barth Feldman, a stage and screen star who just happens to be Shen’s longtime boyfriend.
As it turns out, Maybe Happy Ending‘s producers had been eyeing Feldman for the role for quite some time. According to the team, “We fell in love with Andrew’s take on the role of Oliver when he appeared as the reader in Helen J Shen’s initial audition tape, so to have him join her onstage at the Belasco is indeed a special treat.” Adding that the “universal themes [in Maybe Happy Ending] transcend all backgrounds.”
Photo by Dominik Bindl / Getty Images
Feldman opened up about the casting news on Instagram. “I’m going to be back on broadway for the first time since I was 17 in a show that has reminded me (thirteen times now!) how to love a person playing opposite the person I love,” he gushed.
In his official statement, the No Hard Feelings actor shared, “I am so in love with this show and with Helen J. Shen.” He added, “I’ve been a plus-one on this Broadway journey from the beginning, and this brilliant team and beautiful company have already become such a big part of my life. That they trust me with this role, and are giving me the ridiculous gift of sharing it with Helen, is an honor beyond words.”
Maybe Happy Ending follows two retired HelperBots (human-ish machines) who venture on a journey together throughout Seoul, South Korea, in the latter half of the 21st Century. What could have been a single awkward encounter turns into a life-changing romance for the robots—and, of course, their Oliver’s beloved plant, HwaBoon.
For all the theater kids out there who dream of their showmance lasting longer than their high school musical’s limited run — we’ve all been there — take notes! Feldman and Shen first met during a high school production of Sweet Charity. They have been dating since 2021, when they realized that their COVID correspondence had grown beyond friendship.
Andrew Barth Feldman’s limited run in Maybe Happy Ending lasts through November 1.
