Fall Preview: Helen J Shen Is Ready to Join the Multiverse of Maybe Happy Ending on Broadway

Age: 24

Hometown: Basking Ridge, New Jersey

Current Role: Helen J Shen stars in the new rom-com musical Maybe Happy Ending as Claire, a humanoid who comes face-to-face with the facts of life, adventure and love as newer Helper-Bots are created to assist the humans of Seoul. Shen leads the company opposite Broadway veteran Darren Criss.

Credits: Shen was recently seen off-Broadway in MCC Theater's The Lonely Few, written by Zoe Sarnak and Rachel Bonds, and the Playwrights Horizons production of Teeth, written by Anna K. Jacobs and Michael R. Jackson.

A Mushu Moment
Although she grew up across the bridge from the bright lights of New York City, Shen didn’t spend much time in the concrete jungle. It was her local community theater that gave her a taste of the stage. “I played Gretel when I was five years old, and after that I was like, ‘This is my calling. I have to do this,’” she says. “I was very shy and theater brought me out of my shell. I was really excited by going to the theater and making something with my friends. We weren't allowed to do school theater until middle school, I played Mushu in Mulan Jr. I don't think it’s a show anymore, but Mushu is very near and dear to my heart.”

At the Barricade
Shen’s Broadway debut as a leading lady lands her in the company of stage icons: Audra McDonald, Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, Sutton Foster and Idina Menzel, just to name a few of the actresses filling marquees this season. One performer, however, has Shen breathless. “My mom made sure that I was educated in the Les Miz 10th anniversary concert, so the Lea Salonga Eponine is really important to me.” The fact that she and her beloved Eponine will share a Broadway season (Salonga is set to star in Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends in spring 2025) is still hard for her to grasp. “I haven’t even thought about it," she says. "I got to see Here Lies Love and I didn’t know I was going to see her in it. There’s a part of the show when the platform she’s on gets closer to the audience. I was front row and she was just moving closer and closer to me. It was magic.”

It’s Not a Phase, Mom
As a self-described "rebellious punk," Shen is looking to break boundaries. “It's interesting how one tries to differentiate from the crowd,” she says, reflecting on her style. “During the pandemic I asked myself what the songs that I really like to sing are.” That question led Shen to rediscover her love for pop-punk, especially Paramore and early Demi Lovato tunes. “The punk heads would disagree with the fact that I would be punk, but let me have fun,” she laughs. “Coming from a classical music background, there was always this desire to push boundaries and do something new and different. Growing up, I didn't always see shows and roles that I could immediately slot myself into.The rebellious phase comes from not seeing the things that I want to do. I wonder how I can do them and then maybe pioneer a path forward that people haven't seen before.”

Finding the HappyVerse
Maybe Happy Ending has had successful pit stops on its road to Broadway. Written in both Korean and English, the musical’s Korean-language production opened in 2016 and won six Korean Musical Awards, including Best Musical. The English-language version had its world premiere at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre in early 2020 with Michael Arden taking the directing reins. It’s not lost on Shen that she gets to lead the version that made its way to the New York stage. “Maybe Happy Ending has had a really lush history and I feel like I'm jumping on a moving train and getting to add to the multiverse,” she says. “We're doing a different take from the other versions that have been done before, but it has a history and has been developed for years. I have more reverence for it. It’s bigger than my one person and It's bigger than this one production. I get to add my own individual take on it, which is the best part.”

Full Body Chills
As an original musical, Maybe Happy Ending is bringing something new to the Broadway stage. So much so that its unique scenic design delayed the show's performance schedule due to supply chain issues. "I'm really looking forward to bringing this particular story to Broadway this season," Shen says. "The first time we did the music in rehearsal, it was full-body chills. It envelops you and takes you to the future. It's so exciting and fresh. We're all doing things that I have never seen before and I've never heard before. Even as a theater fan, I would be excited about this show regardless of even being in it."

Watch Shen share more in the video below!