‘Happy Ending’ creator looks back on Broadway journey

“It was a mix of exhaustion, excitement, anxiety and joy. I’m happy to have wrapped up a journey that felt like a decade-long marathon.”

That was how playwright Park Chun-hue, 42, described stepping onstage at Radio City Music Hall in New York on June 8, where the Korean original musical "Maybe Happy Ending" won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, at the 78th annual ceremony.

In a written interview with Korean media on Friday, Park said, “The ceremony lasted seven hours until Best Musical was announced, so I was extremely tired,” but added, “Winning an award doesn’t change anything about my life as a creator.”

Park, who admitted he had never heard of America’s “award season” before, called the journey to the Tonys extraordinary. "Maybe Happy Ending" received honors from the New York Drama Critics’ Circle, the Drama League Awards and the Drama Desk Awards, becoming the most-awarded production at what is often called the Oscars of theater.

What makes "Maybe Happy Ending" especially meaningful to Park is that it was the first original story he created together with American composer Will Aronson. The musical premiered in December 2016 in Seoul’s Daehangro district and was co-written with Aronson, 44. “I don’t know exactly why the show has received so much love,” Park said. “We started writing in 2014 and kept refining it until it opened on Broadway last year. Maybe that effort to improve the completeness is what resonated.”

Speaking about Aronson, affectionately referred to with Park as the “Will and Hue” duo, Park said they had been close friends for 17 years before becoming longtime collaborators. The two met at New York University in 2008 and went on to create musicals, including Bungee Jumping of Their Own (2012), Il Tenore (2023) and Ghost Bakery (2024).

“We share similar values and emotional sensibilities in how we see the world,” Park said. “We also have mutual respect for each other’s artistic views. That trust has always allowed us to work organically, without drawing hard lines between what’s mine or yours.”

Over the years, the duo has explored a wide range of historical and futuristic settings in Korean musical theater. "Maybe Happy Ending" is set in the late 21st century, while Il Tenore takes place in the 1930s during Japan’s colonial rule over Korea. “For Korean audiences, we wanted to show a world that feels familiar yet strangely unfamiliar, and for overseas audiences, a world that feels foreign yet oddly relatable,” Park said. “By now, I’ve lived about half my life in Seoul and half in New York. As a creator who moves between two languages and cultures, I hope to tell stories that offer a slightly different perspective and resonate with many people.”

"Maybe Happy Ending" is set to return to Korean stages in October for its sixth season. “The venue will be larger, so there will be some visual changes to match,” Park said. “This marks the 10th anniversary since our trial run in 2015. I’ll do my best to make this performance a happy one for Will, myself and everyone who has joined the journey of 'Maybe Happy Ending.' As long as the creative impulse to tell stories and share music remains, I will keep working with steady dedication.”


사지원 기자 4g1@donga.com