Hollywood's Russell Crowe and Edinburgh musical theatre star Jeff Leyton go viral as online duet gets a million plus views

IT STARTED as a bit of fun, a way for Edinburgh musical theatre star Jeff Leyton to remain creative while theatres are closed... then Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe hopped on board and everything changed.
Russell Crowe (Javert) and Jeff Leyton (Jean Valjean) perform their lockdown version of The Confrontation from Les MiserablesRussell Crowe (Javert) and Jeff Leyton (Jean Valjean) perform their lockdown version of The Confrontation from Les Miserables
Russell Crowe (Javert) and Jeff Leyton (Jean Valjean) perform their lockdown version of The Confrontation from Les Miserables

Now, the pair are celebrating the success of their lockdown recording of The Confrontation from hit West End musical Les Miserables, which has gone viral, claiming more than a million hits in less than 48 hours.

It all started when Pilton-born Leyton received a new backing track from Dublin-based musical director Jim Sheridan and thought it might be nice to add his vocals to the recording before returning it. The song was Do You Hear The People Sing? from the Les Miserables, a musical in which Leyton played the coveted lead role of Jean Valjean more than 3,600 times over 14 and a half year period.

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When Sheridan posted that recording on Twitter, it quickly garnered more than 10,000 views after it was retweeted by Crowe, who played Valjean’s nemesis Javert in the movie version of the musical. Later, Leyton tweeted a message of thanks to the Hollywood star and cheekily added that if Crowe fancied reprising the role of Javert to sing The Confrontation with him, he’d be up for it.

He never expected a reply but to his surprise, Crowe took him up on the offer and at the end of last week a video of the pair performing the showstopping number appeared on social media.

“I never thought anything would come of it,” admits Leyton, “but Russell replied saying, ‘Send me the track and we’ll see what happens’.”

With Crowe, Leyton and Sheridan locked down in Australia, Germany and Ireland respectively, the logistics of recording proved complicated. Leyton explains, “It was impossible to perform together so I bombed over the track to Jim who re-orchestrated it and fired it back to me. I then recorded my vocal onto it and sent it back to Jim, who sent that to Russell, who added his vocal in one take.

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“When I watched the finished product it was electrifying - I was singing with an Academy Award winner and I had to nail it hook, line and sinker. I can’t say how much of an honour it was to record that with Russell and now everyone is talking about it. It has taken the Internet down, over a million hits across our combined social media channels. I’m so humbled.”

Jeff Leyton as Jean Valjean in Les MiserablesJeff Leyton as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables
Jeff Leyton as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables

Sheridan, musical director of Irish TV channel RTE’s Late Late Show adds, “The end result is absolutely brilliant. When it came back, putting my professional eye on it, I was blown away by how good these guys are together.”

And Leyton adds, “I’ve never thought about going back to do Les Miserables again until now. I would love to do it opposite Russell as Javert.”

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Russell Crowe as Javert in the movie version of Les MiserablesRussell Crowe as Javert in the movie version of Les Miserables
Russell Crowe as Javert in the movie version of Les Miserables
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