Justin Mikita and Jesse Tyler Ferguson.Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty
Jesse Tyler Fergusonis celebrating a big win!
“Twenty-five years ago, I worked at the Theatre Circle gift shop on 44th Street, which happens to be three doors down from the Hayes Theater, whereTake Me Outis playing,” Ferguson began his acceptance speech.
As he thanked his parents for letting him move to N.Y.C. at age 17 and his colleagues in the play, Ferguson also shouted out husbandJustin Mikita: “I have to brag for a brief moment. Justin was part of the producing team that broughtDana H.andIs This a Roomto Broadway this season. I am so endlessly proud of you — and you have incredible taste, obviously.”
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Two of Ferguson’sTake Me Outcostars, Michael Oberholtzer andJesse Williams, were also nominated in the category, along withAlfie AllenforHangmen, Chuck Cooper forTrouble in Mindand Ron Cephas Jones forClyde’s.
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Take Me Outis about Darren Lemming (Williams, 40), a baseball player for the Empires who comes out as gay and deals with the disapproving teammates and fans. Ferguson plays Mason Marzac, Lemming’s accountant who is also gay.
According to a synopsis, “Darren is forced to contend with the challenges of being a gay person of color within the confines of a classic American institution. As the Empires struggle to rally toward a championship season, the players and their fans begin to question tradition, their loyalties and the price of victory.”
“To be a part of this season that’s alsobringing Broadway backafter a year and a half of nothing is really profound,” Ferguson told PEOPLE at the Tony Awards meet the nominees press event in New York City last month.
He added, “I havenever been nominated for a Tony Award, [though] some people keep thinking I have just because I’ve been around. I’ve never been honored like this, so it’s just a huge deal to me.”
The actor also recently spoke toDeadlineabout his Tony nomination, saying he has “always dreamed about it.”
“Theater has been something I’ve been doing for 25 years, and of course I’ve dreamed about it. But no, I don’t think it’s something that you can ever fully prepare for,” said Ferguson. “In my mind, I thought, you know, they’d honored this role before 20 years ago with Denis O’Hare in the original production, and so, I really didn’t feel like it was any sort of sure-fire thing. Then I was like, is this the new Anita inWest Side Storywhere anyone who plays it gets a nomination?”
Said Ferguson, “I certainly don’t do this because of the awards, but there’s a line that Mason has at the end of the play, when he says, ‘Don’t diminish it. It would be too ungrateful,’ and I remind myself that all the time because it is a really big deal.”
source: people.com
