How do you write a Tony-winning show? Go through a breakup first.

Hue Park, the first Korean lyricist to pen a Tony-winning musical, says he isn’t happiest when writing. He studied the craft at Dongguk University but grew disillusioned with creative careers due to their office environments and low pay. The premise of “Maybe Happy Ending” — which clinched six Tonys, including Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score, on June 8 — came to him while he was grieving the death of a close friend and going through a difficult breakup.

Specifically, he was sitting in a cafe and happened to hear the song “Everyday Robots” (2014) by English musician Damon Albarn, a song about people who don’t know where they’re going but aren’t content with where they are. “I looked around as I was listening to the song, and everyone really was looking at just their phones and laptops and looked like lonely robots,” Park, 42, told reporters on June 17 in Jongno District, central Seoul. “It was, personally, an incredibly difficult time. I was thinking to myself, ‘If I just hadn’t loved, I would not have been this hurt.’”

That sentiment would become the central theme of “Maybe Happy Ending,” a devastating yet beautiful story of the love between two abandoned and decaying robots in Seoul.

That night, Park called collaborator Will Aronson, 44, whom he’d met while pursuing his Bachelor of Fine Arts at New York University. Aronson composed the Tony-winning score; Park, who had previously worked on K-pop songs, wrote the lyrics, and the two co-wrote the book.

“Maybe Happy Ending” premiered in Seoul in 2016 and was produced five times before premiering on Broadway last year. It is set to return to Seoul for its sixth production this fall, marking its 10th anniversary.

“When I was young, I thought that I was lost, career-wise, and was worried I would become someone who wasn’t really good at anything,” Park said. “But when I first entered the practice hall for ‘Maybe Happy Ending,’ I remember thinking to myself, ‘This is where I’m meant to be. This is why I went through all those periods in my life.”

But the journey to that point wasn’t an easy one.

Particularly on Broadway, the up-and-coming lyricist said, “There were certainly times when I realized the boundaries of working in another culture — the sense that I could never be a part of that community — and wondered why I was putting myself through this. Also, there was always this worry that if I didn’t do something well, people would just resort to thinking it was because I wasn’t from there. So I felt that pressure.”

That’s not to say that “Maybe Happy Ending” is at all a Western show; its distinctly Korean elements contributed majorly to its success. Like the original Korean production, the Broadway version is set in Seoul and Jeju.

It even includes the Korean word hwaboon, meaning “plant,” in the script — which has gone on to be a hit character with its own Instagram account.

“I feel great pride when I hear people who come to the show say to themselves, ‘This is a show from South Korea,’” Park said. Actors, including star Darren Criss, have begun learning Korean, he said, and regularly ask him “Have you eaten?” in the language.

“Maybe Happy Ending” was commissioned by Wooran Foundation, a Korean nonprofit, which later funded the staging of readings and previews in the United States.

“We were like, ‘You don’t know how hard it is to stage a show on Broadway… you don’t have to do this for us,’” Hue said — but the foundation “wanted us to dream big.”

The Broadway musical had a slow start when it opened at the Belasco Theatre in November 2024. However, its popularity soon grew through word-of-mouth, especially rave social media posts by young New York theatergoers. The show’s fans in based in the city call themselves “fireflies.”

Seoul shows have also accumulated a base of avid fans, many of whom have gone to see the same production multiple times. The Korea-based devotees are called “Helperbots.”

“I am so grateful for the fans of this show. I am particularly thankful to the Korean fans, because I was not a confident writer. But I knew it worked with the Korean audiences, and with that experience on my back, I was able to stand my ground when people suggested tweaks during the Broadway production. The Korean audiences were really the ones who gave me confidence to trust myself and motivate me through this process on Broadway.”

The Broadway breakout had its perks for the creatives, including royalties and financial assurance. Park also pointed to how much he enjoyed doing runs in a smaller city like Atlanta, Georgia, before hitting the big stages of Manhattan.

“It was a great chance to meet different theater officials from across the country and even a great opportunity to work with local students,” he said. “It would also be great if Korea had a system like this, where creatives can stage shows in regional areas before officially opening in Seoul.”

“But I am incredibly thankful for Korea’s musical theater scene,” Park added, referring to an industry that is only about two decades old. “People who’ve never left Korea may say ‘Oh, Korea is the worst,’ but, actually, when you leave and experience other countries, you learn that it is a good place to live and work. I appreciate the funds and ample opportunities offered to young musical creatives.”

Park’s ultimate dream as a writer, now, is to “enjoy the job.”

“Writing musical theater, to me, is about tapping into those deep emotions and loneliness, which is extremely painful,” Park said. “But I also feel it is my job to write shows that people can empathize with.”

He continued, “While working, I often tire myself out or become sad. I would like to evolve into a writer who doesn’t become so sad when he is writing a sad story.”

“Maybe Happy Ending” is set to run from Oct. 30 to Jan. 25 at the Doosan Art Center in Jongno District, central Seoul.

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]