When Francis Jue won the 2025 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play, the press room roared to life with cheers and applause.
A long beloved member of the theatre community, this was Jue's first nomination and win. As he shared onstage during his acceptance speech, he wore a tuxedo given to him 20 years ago by the dearly missed legend Alvin Ing. The tuxedo, which Ing had made for himself for the 1976 opening night of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's Pacific Overtures, was given to Jue with one specific request from Ing: that he wear it when Jue accepted his Tony Award.
Now, 20 years later, Ing's prophecy has come true. In the press room, Jue reflected on the immense emotion that coursed through him when given the ability to fulfill Ing's wish.
"The first musical that I was ever taught in high school was Pacific Overtures," he shared. "Until then, it had never even occurred to me that people who looked like me could be in a musical, let alone be the ones about whom the story revolved. And when I finally got to meet Alvin in 2004, with the Broadway revival, I was just flabbergasted. He could not have been sweeter, or more down to earth, and he reminded me that I've had so many models of people: people who are famous, who are not famous. I've always considered myself 'just a worker bee' and just somebody who was lucky enough in this business to get to choose the kinds of projects that I wanted to do, even if I was poor a lot of the time. I was incredibly fortunate, because Alvin didn't have that opportunity... We're living in challenging times, but this is an affirmative, enthusiastic gesture that I, and Alvin, and every one of us matters. And I am so grateful."
READ: How to Watch and Stream the 2025 Tony Awards With or Without Cable
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Daniel Dae Kim and Ryan Eggold
Francis Jue and Daniel Dae Kim
Daniel Dae Kim in Yellow Face
Daniel Dae Kim, Kevin Del Aguila, Marinda Anderson, and Francis Jue
Daniel Dae Kim and Greg Keller
Daniel Dae Kim, Ryan Eggold, and Shannon Tyo
Daniel Dae Kim, Ryan Eggold, and Marinda Anderson
Daniel Dae Kim and Ryan Eggold
Ryan Eggold, Marinda Anderson, Daniel Dae Kim, and Kevin Del Aguila
Francis Jue, Marinda Anderson, Kevin Del Aguila, Daniel Dae Kim, Ryan Eggold, and Shannon Tyo
