BroadwayWorld.com was saddened to have to report the news yesterday that Les Miserables cast member Kyle Jean-Baptiste died on Friday evening at the too young age of 21. As family, friends, format cast mates, and lucky audience members who had the pleasure of seeing him perform heard the news, tributes rang out both large and small online and off.

To catch up with our previous coverage, click here for the original news, here for a video roundup of Kyle's performances and here for some of the intense reaction on social media.

Kyle's family has shared with BroadwayWorld: "Yesterday, a young man who was kind, thoughtful, respectful, confident and vulnerable, left our world. He was a son, a brother, a grandson, a nephew, a cousin, and a friend. With a smile "yay wide", a heart worn on his sleeve, and a song always on his lips, he walked with us for 21 years. To say he will be missed would be an understatement. Our pain has no boundaries. Kyle Xavier Seth Jean-Baptiste has left an indelible mark on all of our lives. His talent was boundless and his light was so bright. We are grateful for each and every day we got to spend with him. His energy will live on in each of us. We extend our gratitude to our extended family, Victoria Bussert, Scott Plate, Ben Sands, Cameron Mackintosh and friends - old & new. Services will be private."

Below, we have video sent to us by an audience member of the curtain call following the Saturday matinee of LES MISERABLES. At the end, the show's current Jean Valjean, Ramin Karimloo spoke to the audience and paid tribute to the young star: "Thank you very much...if we could just have a few more minutes of your time? Sadly this morning, a very talented member of our company and a future rising star of this community passed away. Kyle Jean-Baptise, who understudied Jean Valjean and passed away this morning was a dear friend to us.

We wanted to give our condolences and our time and respect to the privacy of his family - we also want to dedicate this performance to him, to this good friend of ours, Kyle Jean-Baptiste. He was like a tornado of energy, and only 21 at this point. He was a good buddy of mine and twice and he was already headed towards his second Broadway show and this kid was going to be a star. He was a one man band. He had a lot of moxie, and he wanted to sprint before he could crawl, but I tell you what, his stride could keep it. It's just a very sad day for us, so I want to celebrate his life and to celebrate in what little time he was here - how much he accomplished. I'll tell you what, we're all standing now, we'd like to continue to the standing ovation for him because I guarantee you it was going to happen a thousand times over in his career."

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