Tony Award Winner Francis Jue speaks at BroadwayCon's AANHPI Concert of Joy

Описание: Backstage Pass with Lia Chang: Tony Award Winner Francis Jue speaks at BroadwayCon's AANHPI Celebration of Joy Concert

Erin Quill curated a one-of-a-kind celebration of the voices and artistry of the AANHPI community on Broadway and beyond for BROADWAYCON 2026 on Friday, January 23, 2026 at Palladium Times Square, 1515 Broadway.

BROADWAYCON's AANHPI Concert of Joy at Palladium Times Square https://wp.me/p3Rlci-e1

Featuring a lineup of talent, including Ali Ewoldt, Telly Leung, Timothy H. Lee, Nehal Joshi, Deven Kolluri, Deborah S. Craig, Erin Quill, Claire Kwon, Jaygee Macapugay, Kai Edgar, Anne Fraser Thomas, Albert Guerzon, Adrianna Mateo, Shoba Narayan, Grace Yoo, Tony Award winner Francis Jue, and musical direction by Jason Liebson,.

Erin: Ladies and gentlemen, please put it together for our Francis Jue the 2025 Tony Award winning actor for outstanding featured performer in a play.

Francis: Erin asked me to say a few words to keep it real. And so I thought I would start with a little confession. I don't know how much it's just me or how much it's because I didn't see very many Asians on screen or on stage when I was growing up. But I always felt I needed to ask permission. I always needed to apologize for asking for your attention.

I don't necessarily want nor am I qualified to be an ambassador for Asians. But that's part of the job when you're in a country and when you work in an industry that continues to see us as perpetual foreigners, incapable of telling our own universal human stories. What's worse, many Asians felt, feel like I did, that we have to ask for permission, that we need to prove that we belonged.

When I first came to New York, I thought I could only survive in this business if I did classical theater in theaters that were doing non-traditional casting. I thought I could prove my humanity by playing roles that were traditionally played by white people.

As artists, we aren't insulated from the pernicious idea that we are foreign, a variant from the norm, adjacent to humanity, but not fully human ourselves. It's taken me a long time to understand how deep those prejudices go, and how insidiously they affected my own work and my own sense of self. It took me a long time and a lot of self-reflection finally to say, fuck that shit.

An audience member once said to me, "when I see you on stage, I don't see an Asian. I see a human being."

And I actually did say to him, and this was a revelation to me at the time. And as I said it, one day I hope that you can see me as an Asian and a human being.

I'm grateful for all the opportunities I've had to play roles like the Emcee, Mozart, Puck. But honestly, I am proudest of playing the Asian roles that I've had the opportunity to play because they were both Asian and human.

I am enraged, and I mourn For all the roles not played, the songs not written, the plays not produced because of under-representation of Asians on Broadway and in the American theater across the country. The tragedy is incalculable.

But here's the thing. We are still here. We are powerful and we are necessary. Being Asian is a big ingredient in our secret sauce. Whether I'm playing an Asian role or not, it's part of my humanity. Asian stories are universal human stories. And Asians are as qualified to tell universal human stories as anyone else.

When I look at the artists on this stage, I am hopeful. I am moved to be motivated to try to be a better artist who sees being Asian not as an obstacle, but as an asset, a boundless resource of what it means to be human, to be an artist, and a citizen.

The American theater will never fulfill its true potential until it includes Asian artists. I'm proud to be an Asian artist. I'm humbled by the courage and the talent of the artists on this stage.

Thank you to Erin Quill and Broadway con for showing us what it could sound like indeed. Thank you very much.

Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer, activist, documentarian and an Award winning filmmaker and COO of Bev’s Girl Films making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Lia is also the host and Executive Producer of BACKSTAGE PASS WITH LIA CHANG, an Award winning Arts and Entertainment and Lifestyle program that airs on Sundays at 6:30pm on FIOS 34, RCN 83, Spectrum 56/1996 and streams on MNN2. Lia was recently profiled on Asian American Life. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. www.liachang.com www.liachangphotography.com