Last night, in celebration of Easter Sunday, NBC continued their recent trend of live stage musical broadcasts with a newly adapted production of Jesus Christ Superstar starring John Legend as JC, Sara Bareilles as Mary Magdalene, Alice Cooper as King Herod, and an immensely talented group of performers to round out the cast.
While several highly touted live TV musicals have aired over the last several years, this new adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s cult classic 1970 rock opera was the first to be filmed in front of a large live audience with live musical accompaniment. The teleplay was staged at Marcy Armory and has received rave reviews, with virtually every review noting the palpable energy afforded to the performance by the live audience and accompaniment.
One particular member of the backing band will look familiar to Live For Live Music’s readers: young guitar wizard Brandon “Taz” Niederauer, who served as a featured soloist during a number of the show’s songs (including its opening number), augmenting the guitar work of band members Tim Quick and Dylan Kondor (pictured above).
Taz, of course, has plenty of experience working with the decorated Andrew Lloyd Webber. He originated the role of Zack Mooneyham in the Broadway production of School of Rock: The Musical (music by Webber), and recently made a ripping guest appearance at the special 30th-anniversary performance of Webber’s 1986 hit musical Phantom of the Opera.
You can check out a couple of Taz’s appearances below. You can watch all the musical numbers from Jesus Christ Superstar Live! via the NBC YouTube page):
Jesus Christ Superstar Overture with Brandon “Taz” Niederauer
“Damned for All Time/Blood Money” with Brandon “Taz” Niederauer
Jesus Christ Superstar wasn’t Taz’s only big show this past weekend. He also performed a Jimi Hendrix tribute show at Garcia’s at The Capitol Theatre the previous night, billed as the 50th anniversary of Jimi’s iconic record, Electric Ladyland (1968). Listen to full-show audio of the performance below:
Brandon “Taz” Niederauer – Jimi Hendrix Tribute – Full Audio – 3/31/18
[Audio: Recorded, edited and seeded by Michael Buzzeo; Uploaded by JamBuzz]
If you like Taz, you can catch him during Jazz Fest at Z-Funk: A Tribute To Led Zeppelin & Parliament Funkadelic featuring Michelangelo Carubba & Shira Elias (Turkuaz), Roosevelt Collier, Brandon “Taz” Niederauer, Steve Swatkins (Allen Stone), Rob Walker (The Main Squeeze), Chris Bullock & Mike “Maz” Maher (Snarky Puppy) at The Maison in New Orleans on Sunday, April 29th. For more info, click here; to purchase tickets, click here; and for our full guide to Jazz Fest late nights, click here.
