Written by AAPIC Member Mary Jue. Mary is Francis Jue's sister and lives in Sonoma. 6/21/25

For the first time in Tony Awards history, three acting categories were won by Asian American performers at the 2025 awards ceremony on June 8.

Chinese American Francis Jue won Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play (Yellow Face), only the second Asian actor ever to win in this category.

Francis Jue in Playbill (Photo by Heather Gershonowitz)

Darren Criss became the first Asian to win Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical (Maybe Happy Ending). Both Jue and Criss are San Francisco natives.

Nicole Scherzinger, of Filipino and Hawaiian ancestry, won Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical (Sunset Boulevard), only the second Asian American to win in this category.

Nicole Scherzinger, Darren Criss and Marco Paguia’s monumental wins at the 2025 Tony Awards are more than just personal triumphs; they represent a landmark night for Filipino representation on Broadway. Insta @nicolescherzonger @darrencriss @mrpagoo in Gulf News.

Beyond the acting category, Maybe Happy Ending won Best Musical, Best Original Score Written for the Theatre, and Best Scenic Design, Best Direction, and Best Book of a Musical. Will Aronson and South Korean Hue Park wrote the book and score, and actor Darren Criss enjoyed a second award as producer for Best Musical. The musical also had been nominated for Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design of a Musical, and Best Orchestrations.

Hue Park and Will Aronson in Playbill (Photo by Heather Gershonowitz).

Filipino American Marco Paguia won Best Orchestrations for Buena Vista Social Club. As musical director, conductor and pianist, he also shared a Special Tony Award for exceptional work by the musicians. 

Several other Asian Americans received Tony Award nominations. Korean American Daniel Dae Kim made history as the first Asian to be nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play (Yellow Face). Chinese American David Henry Hwang was nominated for Best Revival of a Play (Yellow Face). And Conrad Ricamora, nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play (Oh, Mary!), and Clint Ramos, nominated for Best Costume Design in a Musical (Maybe Happy Ending), added to strong Filipino American representation at the Tony Awards.

The comedy Yellow Face tells an immigrant father-son story and uses innovative casting strategies to challenge assumptions about gender and race, a theme that speaks to the current moment. It was filmed for PBS’ Great Performances and is available to stream for free on PBS.org and the PBS app through June 30, 2025.

The Los Angeles Times critic thought Francis Jue "delivered the evening's most moving and politically pointed speech." The New York Times quoted his remark, "Isn't it interesting that it is still unusual, historic, groundbreaking to tell an Asian American story on Broadway and to tell it at a time when this country is wrestling with its identity, with who gets to be American, who gets to say who gets to be American?"

Click here to watch Francis Jue’s acceptance speech on  YouTube.