Interview: Corinna Sowers Adler & Nicholas Adler of NiCori Studios and MUSIC AT THE MANSION

One of the hardest working couples in the industry recently returned from a much-needed break from work and, boy, did they deserve it. The founders and administrators of NiCori Studios, Corinna and Nicholas Adler are also one of the happiest pairs in the business, and they just can't stop working. Known by all as Corinna Sowers Adler, the matriarchal figure of the studio is one of the most respected voice teachers working today, doing double duty as a performer herself, proving that those who teach actually can do. Her partner in crime and life, Nicholas, is sort of a theatrical jack of all trades, working as administrator, producer, press rep, and full-time pillar of support, all the while house managing for Jazz At Lincoln Center. Around the house these days, Nicholas being currently furloughed due to the temporary closure at Lincoln Center, the happy duo has been enjoying more time together, and more time to put additional efforts into their family business. One of the most welcome results of their efforts was when they took their concert series outside for the warm months of 2021, allowing them to offer one of the few live performance opportunities for performers and music lovers.

Interested to hear more about that process, I reached out to Nicholas and Corinna to have an informal chat about singing, teaching, running their own business, and what makes a couple like them so very happy.

This interview was conducted digitally and is reproduced with minimal edits.

Hi Corinna and Nicholas! It's good to have you chatting with us today, and I am most grateful to you both.

So, Nicholas, you are actually a BroadwayWorld contributor with an interview series called SO NOW YOU KNOW - but this is our first time getting you in the hot seat. How does it feel, being the interviewee for a change?

NICHOLAS: As you can imagine, I much prefer to ask the questions rather than answer, but happy to oblige for you, Stephen! Writing for BroadwayWorld has given me a creative outlet during the pandemic. Typically surrounded by world-class musicians, artists and entertainers, writing and getting the opportunity to work closer with the amazing NiCori students and transitioning our indoor music series, "Music at the Mansion" outdoors into a socially distant outdoor music set have really filled the artistic void.

Corinna, you have been working industriously these last few months - you've both been producing shows for the Music At The Mansion series, but you've also been teaching AND performing, in-person and online. Have you had a chance to rest at all?

CORINNA: Yes...It's been busy, but not nearly as busy as in "normal times" and I have had time to relax a bit. My mind is always going though, so downtime is not always good for me. I'm better when I'm busy. We have also had the great fortune of house-sitting for family friends of ours who have a second home on Long Beach Island and we spent the holidays plus a few weeks there since we were unable to go home to PA to be with family.

Tell me about the Music At The Mansion concerts - how did you make the difficult decision to create live entertainment during the pandemic, and what were the challenges you overcame to make it happen?

CORINNA: Music at the Mansion has been around for almost ten years and is so loved by our audiences and our community. It usually happens in the beautiful solarium of the Oakeside Bloomfield Cultural Center. With its close intimate quarters (great in normal times...not so great now) we knew it wasn't going to be able to happen unless we got creative. I was in the mansion thinking through how I could still make all of this work and it sort of organically happened.

Many of the catered events (i.e. weddings etc) were also being canceled at Oakeside and the in-house catering company, Frungillo Caterers also found themselves having to pivot. So we spoke with them about the possibility of working together on this to provide dinner on the porch and really turn it into a much needed safe evening out for people. We have the space at Oakeside to be able to host these concerts with social distance and one thing led to another. We read and re-read the CDC guidelines. We had plexiglass walls made. We measured and calculated space. We reached out to artists we love. And we made it happen with help of these fantastic performers, our incredible audiences, and our amazing team. It was a labor of love, for sure, and it was a lot of work, but it was so well received that we plan to continue it starting again this Spring.

At a time when so many artists and community members were relaxing into the virtual performance format, why was it so important for you to go so far above and beyond to make these live shows happen?

NICHOLAS: Corinna is not kidding when she says that her brain is always working and creating. Knowing that we wanted to keep producing, she took one look at the huge wraparound porch of the historic mansion NiCori calls home and said, "Let's start an outdoor series!" We have been housed at Oakeside for the past 11 years and producing Music at the Mansion indoors for almost that amount of time, so this seemed like a great expansion of the series. We produced 12 outdoor shows in 2020. It not only kept music playing and artists working but provided a much-needed way for the community to come for a night out in a very safe way. Both of us have a very strong need to entertain people and also be around live music. This series really helped us and many others with a dose of normalcy during a time of much unrest and stress.

These concerts were created under the aegis of your company NiCori Studios & Productions. Put a picture in my head of the creation and the timeline of NiCori.

NICHOLAS: We incorporated NiCori Studios & Productions right after we got married in 2001. The name, for those who might wonder, is a combination of Nick and Corinna. We always had the dream of creating a production company with a school attached to it. The company has grown over the years from doing concerts and small musicals to the multiple venues filled with concerts and musical productions that happen simultaneously, even during the pandemic. You can learn more about NiCori and what we are up to next at www.nicoristudios.com

NiCori is your Mom and Pop shop passion, but you both maintain other jobs, as well, don't you? How do you find the balance between outside work and the needs of NiCori?

NICHOLAS: Performing, directing and teaching is what Corinna does professionally through NiCori. She is the face and main person for all things NiCori. That being said, we have a wonderful backstage and technical team that helps with every production or show. Corinna has a very full calendar with all of the aspects of being the Artistic Director for NiCori.

Besides overseeing the digital presence of NiCori, I also am the person who runs all of the financials for the company. That has happened in my spare time over the last 12 years while working full time at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Corinna, let's talk about all those Tony Award nominations. To be acknowledged as an educator in that way must be a uniquely rewarding experience.

CORINNA: The thing that is the most rewarding thing about all of that is that my students would take the time to do what it takes to nominate me. It is truly humbling. They have to make videos, write letters, send testimonials. The idea that they would do all of that for me is really incredible to me. I am so grateful to them and, what they don't know, is that more often than not, they are teaching me.

Nicholas, when I caught Corinna's show, Second Stories, you were singing backup for her, and rather well, I might add. So you cover cabaret for BroadwayWorld, you work as part of the full-time staff for Jazz at Lincoln Center, you teach and produce for NiCori - is there a part of you that misses the microphone?

NICHOLAS: I do have the urge now and then to grab the mic. I was a child performer, was on stage in theme park shows, and toured for many years in anti-bullying and children's shows. While the bite is still there, I am not the off the cuff type of performer who feels comfortable just jumping up on stage. I like to do a duet in a show now and then. That really makes me happy and satiated.

We're into the new year, we have a new administration in Washington, one that likes the arts - what's ahead for NiCori studios and the Sowers Adler family? Do you have a new session of classes starting, or some shows we can see?

CORINNA: We are excited that we now have an administration that values the arts! We have started our NiCori Spring 2021 semester complete with plexiglass, rotating small group classes, socially distanced blocking, masks, temp checks, and a lot of hope. In this current project underway, we plan to have the kids perform live while streaming to a virtual audience. We also already have a summer camp in the works and our students will be performing our summer show SEUSSICAL live and outside. "Music at the Mansion: Porch Performances" will continue in the late spring and I plan to open the series with my show SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL. We will just keep doing everything we can to keep live performance happening for our theatre kids and our audiences. The work is hard, but when a kid comes to the studio, looks at you with tears in her eyes, and says "thank you for finding a way" you roll up your sleeves, put your high heels on and get to work.

You are a couple who has sung together onstage - tell me about the musical moments that happen around the house.

NICHOLAS: There is always music or singing. I have to tell you that the shower concerts are well worth the price of admission! For me, it is the real-life singing that Corinna does on long car rides that take my breath away the most. She has always sung a third harmony for pretty much every Indigo Girls song that exists. That and hearing her sing along with our nephews in the car. It's rather priceless to hear the very trained Corinna and our 5, 6, and 12-year-old nephews singing Lil Nas X "Old Town Road!"

It's also been really fun to get Corinna's 88-year-old grandmother singing. She's very spunky and loves singing American Songbook Standards while they cook together. Can't wait for that to happen again soon!

We both obviously love music and theatre. Going to Broadway shows, Metropolitan Opera, ABT, and concerts all over NYC was one of the highlights of the last 24 years together.

And in a matter of weeks Valentine's Day will be upon us - as one of cabaret's most romantic couples, what kind of advice can you give our readers about a perfect way to have an enjoyable February 14th while social distancing?

CORINNA: There is no "perfect". Be silly together! Don't take Valentine's Day so seriously, especially this year. If it snows, have a snowball fight. Open up a bottle of wine and watch Netflix. Write a love note on the bathroom mirror. But, really, these things can be done anytime; not just Valentine's Day. Nick is my best friend and we have been through many ups and downs together. I think I have learned that the friendship of a marriage is really important and needs to be nurtured. It's what gets you through the tough times. Make sure you have fun!

Nicholas and Corinna, thanks so much for stopping by to share your life and your work with us. I look forward to seeing what you folks produce next. Stay safe and keep on creating!

Thank you so much for including us. We are grateful for all you do for the Broadway and Cabaret community!

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