The theater world is mourning the loss of Kyle Jean-Baptiste, the first African-American to play the leading role of Jean Valjean in Broadway’s Les Misérables, who died on August 28, 2015. The 21-year-old tragically fell to his death  from a fire escape in Brooklyn.

The young actor attended Laguardia High School of Music and Art, and went on to pursue musical theater at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio. Brandyn Day, Jean-Baptiste’s best friend, said of the deceased, “When he found out ‘Les Miz’ was coming back to Broadway, he kept saying, ‘I’m going to be in it.’ ” And so he was.

Just one day after graduating college, Jean-Baptiste was cast as an ensemble member and as the understudy for Jean Valjean. Jean-Baptiste went onstage multiple times this summer as Valjean, making him not only the first African-American to play the role, but also the youngest.

Victoria Bussert, the director of the musical theater program at Baldwin Wallace, recalled her memories of Jean-Baptiste from his very first audition. “He came to us without a lot of experience, but with the most immense raw talent I’ve ever encountered,” Bussert said.

On Monday August 31, several hundred people gathered at the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park to celebrate Jean-Baptiste’s life. The memorial ended in a communal signing of the anthem, “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from Les Misérables. Additionally, Jean-Baptiste’s former classmates launched an online campaign to create a scholarship in his honor in order to help other aspiring performers attend Baldwin Wallace. Their fundraising goal of $25,000 was met before the memorial concluded, and the scholarship has now far surpassed that number. You can view the campaign at http://www.gofundme.com/ju3bfgt9.