Clarissa Cueva, of Valencia, just won a Tony Award.
According to her sister, Katarina Vidal Cueva, the 2025 Tony for best musical went to a show Cueva co-produced called “Maybe Happy Ending.” It was a lifelong dream come true.
“My sister has been enamored by theater since she was 3 years old,” Vidal Cueva said during a recent telephone interview. “When she was 3 and I was 5, my parents took us to go see ‘The Lion King’ at the Pantages. Ever since then, she’s just been infatuated with theater.”
Clarissa Cueva, 27, grew up loving the 1994 Disney animated version of “The Lion King.” However, seeing it live on stage with its powerful music, elaborate costumes and stunning art design left a lasting impression on her. She said that it was like magic.
“While I’m not exactly sure what was running through my 3-year-old mind,” Cueva wrote in a message, “I’d like to imagine I fell in love with being taken to another world. There is something so captivating about seeing live theater unfold in front of you.”
As a result, Cueva took theater classes through school. She also regularly attended shows at the Pantages Theatre, and later in life even flew herself to New York to see shows on Broadway.
Cueva went on to study business administration and theater at the University of San Francisco with the goal of working on the marketing side of theater. She’d hoped to work in the theater scene in the Bay Area, but during her senior year, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and she was forced to return home to Valencia to finish her studies online.
After graduation, Cueva was unsure of what to do next. She got a job at a Starbucks coffee shop, and after more businesses reopened following the pandemic, she took a second job as an usher at the Pantages Theatre.
She eventually made plans to move to New York. To afford the move, she got a third job selling merchandise in the evening at concert venues.
“She was like, ‘Now that things are opening up, I can move to New York,” Vidal Cueva said. “She thought, ‘I don’t really see myself moving to San Francisco, and I don’t really want to stay in L.A. I can finally go work on Broadway. So, let’s do it.’”
Cueva’s goal was to save up $10,000. In February 2023, she had what she needed and made the move to the East Coast. She took with her just two pieces of luggage and a job transfer to a Starbucks out there.
She immediately began looking for work on Broadway. One of the first jobs she got, in addition to her Starbucks gig, was selling merchandise at theaters. She did that in a part-time capacity. But she eventually got a full-time assistant producer job at TBD Productions, a New York City-based theatrical production company.
It was with TBD that Cueva picked up her first producing credit, and that was on the show “Maybe Happy Ending,” the show that would go on to win a Tony in June.
“Maybe Happy Ending” is a Korean musical that takes place in a near-future Seoul about two obsolete robots who develop a unique bond during a journey that challenges their pre-programmed limitations.
According to Cueva, the story, at its core, is about human connection.
“The show begins with a song called ‘Why Love?’ which dares to ask why people fall in love — or even bother trying with it,” she said. “You take the risk of falling in love without knowing what’ll happen next because the only true thing that’s guaranteed about it is that it will eventually end. You take the chance at falling in love, in hopes that it might turn out the way you plan, and even if it doesn’t, it surely changes and shapes you. ‘Maybe Happy Ending’ is a reminder that we are equally made of the things and people we experience, and that love is never obsolete.”
According to TonyAwards.com, the show opened on Nov. 12, 2024, at the Belasco Theatre in New York. Cueva said she was thrilled when she won the Tony, but she needed to pay a fee to be able to receive the physical award, and she had less than a week to put it all together.
Vidal Cueva started a GoFundMe page to raise the money. Within less than three hours, she said they got it all.
And when Cueva received the Tony, she instantly felt that the moves she’d made in life were justified.
“I still remember the moment our show was announced as the winner of best musical and my heart leapt out of my chest,” Cueva said. “I ran down to the stage, arms linked with my fellow co-producer, Ali, and to be up there and look out at the crowd was a feeling I’ll never forget. Having this incredible honor is proof that choosing to move to New York with truly just a dream and determination paid off.”
She gave credit to her family who supported her leaving the Santa Clarita Valley and seeing what she could accomplish on her own. The journey was not easy, she said, and it continues to be challenging with balancing her relationships, two part-time jobs and a full-time producing job, and her personal well-being.
Cueva said she wants to continue to develop original projects. But there’s still more to come with “Maybe Happy Ending.” Those interested in seeing the production who are unable to get out to New York can rest assured that the production will be on a national tour beginning summer 2026.
“So, keep your eyes peeled for dates in Southern California,” she said.
Vidal Cueva is very proud of her sister. The grandchildren of immigrants from Mexico, and the firsts in their family to graduate from college, both Vidal Cueva and her sister are living the American Dream. Vidal Cueva is getting her doctorate in clinical psychology. Her sister went on to not only finish college, but also work in her dream field and win the highest honor in American professional theater.
Beyond that, Cueva just doesn’t quit.
“She’s just such a hard-working individual,” Vidal Cueva said. “There are probably little girls or little boys that love theater, and they might not think that they can do anything in the theater industry if they don’t have musical talent, but they can still work in that industry in other ways.”
Cueva is proof of that.
