Francis Jue’s Triumphant Return To “King of the Yees”
Francis Jue joined me via Zoom on an early Monday afternoon, his day off from the Signature Theater Company’s current production of King of the Yees (on through November 22, 2026). In this uber-meta, autobiographical tale chronicling playwright Lauren Yee’s relationship to her father and San Francisco’s Chinatown, Jue plays the story’s patriarch, Larry Yee. This marks the actor’s return to the role after several years of playing him in regional productions across the country since its Chicago premiere at the Goodman Theater in 2017.
I had the privilege of seeing that production with my mother when she came to visit me in college. The play found me when I needed it the most, as a junior in my BFA theater program craving stories from other AANHPI voices. After the curtains closed, my mother shared stories from her own life that mirrored Yee’s play: childhood memories of visiting her parents’ old stomping grounds in New York City’s Chinatown, coming of age around non-Asian peers, and feeling disconnected from her parents.
Since then, my mother and I have seen countless AANHPI-fronted productions together. After each one, a new story about her childhood and our family history has emerged. It has also been a way to bring her into my world as a theater artist.
Jue has been the face of a majority of these shared experiences, including Yee’s Cambodian Rock Band, and David Henry Hwang’s Soft Power and the filmed production of Yellow Face. To my mom and I, Jue has become a kind of micro-celebrity. When I heard that King of the Yees was coming to New York’s Signature Theater, I knew I needed to bring my mom back to where it all began. With more experience being in dialogue with theater artists, it only felt right to connect with Jue and hear the story of an actor I have admired for almost a decade.
Jue has been involved with the King of the Yees since its very first workshop in 2014. Though he plays Yee’s father, Jue actually has much more in common with her than with him. “My parents were born and raised in Chinatown, and they used to take us to the Jue Family Association,” he said, describing growing up feeling somewhat estranged from his familial roots. “It always felt like we were going to a foreign country.”
Yee credits these shared roots to Jue’s naturalistic take on the role. “Francis and I share so much in our upbringing, so he immediately got the character of Larry Yee,” she said. “He understood the rhythms of this character’s language without me ever needing to translate that for him.”
The play also brought Jue closer to his own family, who often remarked how much they saw themselves and other family members in his portrayal of Larry. The passing of Jue’s parents in particular brought a perspective on grief and letting go that deeply informed Jue’s return to the role. “When I’m doing the show, it feels like I’m reconnecting with them,” he shared. I’m speaking on their behalf, and at the same time having conversations with them.”
Jue is one of nine siblings, and while he is not the only one to pursue an artistic career, he is the only one to pursue acting. His journey into the profession is not one marked with early professional training like many of his peers, but by grit and pure chance. He recalls saving money from odd jobs in high school to take dance classes and being a member of the chorus in school musicals.
His big break came in 1984 when a classmate at Yale, who was playing piano to accompany auditions for the first revival of Pacific Overtures, invited Jue to audition. The play was the first musical to tell the story of 19th century Japan’s westernization. It was also one of the first opportunities for AANHPI performers to tackle non-stereotypical roles.
“They were having trouble finding someone to play the boy in the tree, so [my classmate] asked me to come to New York,” said Jue. “I took the train to Grand Central, auditioned, and the next thing I know, I’m in a company full of Asian American actors, all of whom are making it in one way or another. All brilliantly talented, full of heart.”
From there, Jue spent years becoming a staple in the theater community, taking on iconic Asian roles in Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional productions including Thoroughly Modern Millie, M. Butterfly, and Miss Saigon. He won a Tony Award in 2025 for his performance as Henry Yuan Hwang in Yellow Face and has been nominated for several Obie Awards.
During our conversation, Jue gushed about a recent community night for King of the Yees, co-hosted by A4 and Asia Society, where he was able to meet many young, up-and-coming Asian theater artists. This environment was a large contrast from the early 2000s arts landscape he came up in, where he would often see the same several Asian actors at every audition. He believes there is no better time to be an Asian in the arts.
“It makes me very happy and proud to know that there are so many more Asian Americans who believe that this is possible, and that they have the right, that they belong, that this is their space too,” he said. “They don’t have to argue for it, they don’t have to ask for it, that it just is their space. I love that.”
King of the Yees at the Signature Theater has been extended through November 22nd.
—Bri Ng Schwartz(she/her/hers) is an artist and administrator based in Brooklyn. She is committed to the dismantling of gatekeeping in arts and culture and uses her experience in community engagement and education to develop meaningful partnerships. She is the Education & Community Outreach Manager at Primary Stages, and has served in various administrative capacities at Dance/NYC, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, National Queer Theater, JACK Arts, Theatre Communications Group and more. She has also written for publications such as JoySauce LADYGUNN, HowlRound, American Theater Magazine and is a staff writer at Mixed Asian Media.
