Meet the LeBaron family. They are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and love singing together. Jordon LeBaron says that music has become a defining characteristic of their family. Having musically gifted parents, he and his siblings grew up performing at work functions and in sacrament meetings, and three of the children went on to study music in college. They also have spouses who are musically inclined.
The family of five siblings, spouses, and children made national headlines last week when the oldest son, 33-year-old Jordon LeBaron who lives with his wife and three children in St. George, posted a video on Facebook of nine of his most talented family members (the five brothers and sisters and spouses) singing in the living room of his parents’ home on Easter Sunday. The song that they sang was “One Day More” from the musical Les Misérables, which is based on a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862. The video immediately resonated with everyone who viewed it and it has since gone viral. That is something that none of the family members could have ever expected.
Broadway World proclaimed, “This family is the embodiment of every theatre kid’s dream: a family full of talented theatre lovers who can belt out Broadway classics together.” Jordon, who plays the part of Marius, captioned the video, “Anyone looking to do Les Misérables for their next show? Better yet…anyone looking for an entire cast?” The other characters performed by family members are: Valjean – Jayson LeBaron, Cosette – Angela Garrett LeBaron, Eponine – Karina LeBaron, Enjolras – Juston LeBaron, Madame Thenardier – Heidi LeBaron Garn, Thenardier – Gerald J LeBaron, Spencer Garn, Javert – Landon LeBaron, and Ghost of Fantine -Kaitlyn Hipwell.
Jordon told Deseret News, “We recorded this because my mom wanted this as a present for her for Mother’s Day. That’s the only thing she wanted. So, we got together, and my brother pulled up the karaoke track. We ran through it a couple times and then we recorded it. We honestly didn’t expect a response of this magnitude.”
According to Hollywood Life, Jayson LeBaron, who plays the part of Valjean, told 2News, “We’ve all grown up singing together and we all married musically talented people. My dad plays the piano and has been our accompanist growing up and my mom has been our music director. We all got involved with musical theater and did a lot of shows in high school and college. Music has been a unifying thing in our family, though we are all over Utah now from Kaysville to Salt Lake to St. George; we come together in the good times and during the trials with music keeping us real, and keeping us together, and keeping us happy.”
The video post has received more than 2,800 shares and more than 262,000 views. It has also been featured by other news outlets such as the Today Show, People, Inside Edition and the New York Post. However, for the LeBaron family, this video is about more than the song — it’s about how music connects families. Dennise LeBaron, the matriarch of the family, told KSL after the video went viral that performances like their Easter karaoke session are common. She said, “Singing is the glue that has held our family together during the tough times,” like daughter Holli’s death in 2002, and son Landon’s autism diagnosis. Landon is currently serving a service mission at the LDS Church Office Building.
Jordon told Deseret News that for him music is just as much a part of his life as the gospel is. Singing together has helped his family build each other’s’ testimonies. He said, “We still, every time we get together, sing something from Broadway or we sing a church hymn, cool arrangement, or something my dad wrote. The music that we sing together has really helped strengthen the bond that we share. It’s really been a positive, unifying attribute of our family despite the challenges.” Heidi LeBaron Garn added that though she and her siblings have different interests, music “has been one connecting point for us where we all agree.”
To learn more about the LeBaron family, please subscribe to their YouTube channel and watch for more videos to come. Also, visit their new official website.
