Stage Voices

(Liam Stack’s article appeared in The New York Times, 8/29.) 

Kyle Jean-Baptiste, the first African-American actor to play the iconic lead role of Jean Valjean in the popular Broadway musical“Les Misérables,” died on Friday after falling from a fire escape in Brooklyn. He was 21.

Mr. Jean-Baptiste was an ensemble performer and an understudy for the role of Valjean, said Marc Thibodeau, a spokesman for the production. In addition to being the first African-American actor to play the role, he was also the youngest. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/nyregion/kyle-jean-baptiste-actor-in-les-miserables-dies-in-fall.html?hpw&rref=theater&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0 

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