Bloomfield College Announces Partnership with NiCori Studios and Productions

By Alicia Cook

NiCori Studios and Productions, located in Bloomfield and headed by theatrical powerhouses Corinna Sowers Adler and Nicholas Adler, will co-produce at the Westminster Arts Center at Bloomfield College. The highly anticipated, newfound partnership will kick off this winter beginning with a Winter Gala concert on December 16. The gala is intended to reintroduce NiCori Studios and Productions to the public.

The Westminster Arts Center’s intimate proscenium theater inside a turn-of-the-century brownstone church is the perfect setting for the full schedule of NiCori productions, which will include educational theatre programming, cabaret performances, special guest artists, singer/songwriter events, and musical productions.

NiCori Studios and Productions took form in 2001 when the married couple still lived in Pennsylvania. Since moving to Bloomfield in 2008, the Company has been housed in the Oakeside Bloomfield Cultural Center.

“We moved to Bloomfield when I accepted the job of Performance Manager at Jazz at Lincoln Center,” said Nicholas Adler, Executive Director of NiCori Studios and Productions. “I’ve since been promoted to House Manager. The commute is easy, the community is great, and because we are so close to Manhattan, performers don't mind commuting to sing on our series.”

Additionally, Adler has produced several cabaret artists and off-Broadway shows in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida and New York City.

NiCori, a combination of “Nicholas” and “Corinna,” is a Voice and Theatre studio as well as a Production Company with a thriving voice studio with over 30 students. The Company, which has produced multiple cabaret acts and off-Broadway reviews, aims to educate, inspire, and entertain.

Monthly productions have included the MAC-nominated, and couples’ personal favorite, "Music at the Mansion" series at Oakeside Bloomfield Cultural Center. NiCori has also partnered with the Irvington Town Hall Theater to produce the "Cabaret on the Hudson" series for the past two years.

NiCori Studios and Productions has also produced the off-Broadway show "Music and Lyrics by Her" at the Triad Theater, "Shows Ta Go Ya" and two annual "NiCori Youth Showcases" both at the Metropolitan Room in New York City.

What sets NiCori apart is twofold; for one, NiCori focuses on youth performers from New Jersey, whose ages range from 12-19.

“Our company is a theatre program with an educational component. We also host an extensive summer program each year,” explained Corinna Sowers Adler, Founding Artistic Director.

“We celebrate individuality,” added her husband. “Other programs highlight more competitive parts of the business, but we really focus on inclusiveness and being the best version of yourself.”

Another unique aspect to the Company is that Corinna Sowers Adler is a star in her own right. Sowers Adler is a multi-award winner and two time Tony Award nominee for Excellence in Theatre Education.  She is a professional singer/actress who has sung on both the Rose Theater and The Appel Room stages at Lincoln Center as well as performed her solo cabaret shows at many top New York City spaces including Feinstein's/54 Below. Most recently, she was named as one of 15 top Cabaret singers in New York City.  This fall, Corinna has the honor of performing her own solo show entitled, “Something Beautiful” in the majestic Appel Room on November 5. 

“I have always had a connection to theatre kids,” said Sowers Adler. “I am a big believer in ‘grow where you are planted,’ and Bloomfield is a great place to lay roots. The town has grown with us as we lived here.”

It is the couples’ hope that this new partnership with Bloomfield College, beginning with the Winter Gala, will help them enter a new phase with NiCori, one that includes obtaining funding in order to provide tuition scholarships to students. Sowers Adler remembers what it was like to be a child who wanted to perform in theater, but who needed financial assistance to do so.  Besides having current students perform on the Winter Gala, there are slated to be three Broadway performers to inspire the students of today as well as students from the past. 

“I was a scholarship kid,” recalled Sowers Adler. “If I didn’t have someone I didn’t know at all write a check to go to a summer theater program, I wouldn’t be where I am today. For me, it was life changing.”

The couple also hopes to expand NiCori into a levelled program with a class or project for every age group, which would allow Sowers Adler to hire her former students.

In the months following the Winter Gala, NiCori Studios and Productions will present “James and the Giant Peach,” a one-woman-show featuring actress Ami Brabson entitled “Phenomenal Woman” in honor of Black History Month, and more at the Westminster Arts Center. Discounted tickets for Bloomfield College students are available.

For more information about upcoming productions and classes, please visit www.nicoristudios.com.

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