Kyle Jean-Baptiste made history as the first African American and youngest to play the role of Jean Valjean in the famous Broadway play "Les Miserables," set in the early 1800s in France. After falling from a fourth-floor fire escape on August 28, Kyle Jean-Baptiste has passed at the age of 21. Just a month after he joined the company, Jean-Baptiste took the stage on July 23.
"Les Miserables" was Kyle's favorite play. The story surrounds the character of Jean Valjean, who is released from a French prison after serving 19 years of a 5 year sentence. Jean Valjean turns his life around becoming the master of a factory, the mayor of the town and a loving philanthropist. He promises a dying woman to care for her child and through their relationship the importance of love and compassion is represented.
When Kyle heard the play was coming to Broadway, he told a friend "I'm going to be in it." After making history, Jean-Baptiste told Playbill, “This was my dream since I was a little boy. This incredible team of creatives presented an opportunity to play a part I have dreamed of playing since I was introduced to theatre, and I am forever grateful. I felt a huge amount of responsibility to do right by them and to honor this iconic material.”
Kyle Jean-Baptiste was born in New York and graduated from Baldwin Wallace University. The school released a statement saying how "filled with incredible sadness" their community is after their loss. Many Broadway stars also sent Twitter messages offering their condolences to the Jean-Baptiste family.
Lin-Manuel Mirando additionally expressed his shock through a tweet and posted a Youtube video of himself and Jean-Baptiste performing a number from “Les Misérables” two weeks earlier.
The play's representative, Marc Thibodeau, told the New York Times that Jean-Baptiste played the role "several times" and was scheduled to leave the production on September 6, to join the production of "The Color Purple."
On Tuesday night, September 1, all of Playhouse Square were focused on Kyle. On a jumbo screen Jean-
Baptiste's face was displayed. Several friends, classmates and admirers performed, invited by Baldwin Wallace University's Music Theatre chair, Scott Plate, to sing a few notes or say a few words. Dan Hoy, a sophomore at Baldwin Wallace, held a white rose and delivered "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables," a song about the ache of absent friends from the play "Les Miserables."
