“In the fifties,” she said “we went to Coney Island with our radios, and listened to the opera…
II
“We interrupt this program to bring you the tragic news. The Jackie Robinson of “The Phantom of the Opera” 21 year oldKyle Jean- Baptiste of Fort Greene, died last night, falling off his fire escape in Brooklyn.
“ He was the first Afro American to make the revolutionarysinging role of Jean Val Jean, his own….”
“ Lights dimmed on Broadway. The audience’s tearful applause.
Madame La Farge put aside her knitting, the “Parle vousFrancais revolutionaries ,carrying their banners around barricades, marching to the battle cries, the baritone deep tonesof Jean Val Jean, blazing the trail for voices like Battle’s…(Katherine Battle) to break the color line. …..”
III
Not unlike the grandson of share croppers, Jackie Robinson had extraordinary extra sensory perception. His hand and eye coordination were so lightning fierce, his UCLA coaches vied for his God given heroics in football, baseball, track and field, basketball.
His intrinsic “not to be ignored,” in ping pong and tennis served him well, also..
IV
Answering the phone at basketballer Don Barksdale’s music store in the City of Angels, South Western Avenue…
“Jackie Robinson here!”
V
Two hundred plus auditions whittled down to twenty six. Could Andrew Lloyd Webber, no less the author Victor Hugo, anticipate such a tragedy.
Words cannot diminish Kyle Jean’s dream.
His loss diminishes all of us.
August 31, 2015 The City that never sleeps.
