Music at the Mansion

NiCori Studios and Productions in association with Oakeside Bloomfield Cultural Center announces a new installment of the monthly concert series, "Music at the Mansion", on Sunday, August 25, at 3pm.  Performers include Bloomfield native Mark Szep, members of  4th Wall Theatre Company,  and Marissa Mulder.  The featured performer in the "Young Musician Moment" will be Jarred Lee.

Mark A.J. Szep, a Bloomfield native, is returning to the "Music at the Mansion" series after his debut performance in September 2011. Mark has been a vocal student of Corinna Sowers-Adler's for over two years and is a former graduate of the acting and improv programs at the New Jersey School of Dramatic Arts (NJSDA). Last year he performed at their cabaret series, Lyrics & Laughter. Mark also is an avid painter and photographer and currently has his first solo photography show hanging at the Oakeside Mansion titled: Never Alone - Black & White Images of Stone Angels. Galleries of his artwork can be found online at: www.markajszep.com. 

4th Wall Theatre is the theatre company in residence at the Westminster Arts Center on the campus of Bloomfield College, in Bloomfield, NJ.  4th Wall’s roots are in Essex County.  It was started by eight friends, who all worked as performers or artistic staff members at the Montclair Operetta Club in Montclair, NJ.  4th Wall's mission focuses on  presenting diverse, seldom-performed, lesser known, or original works, which celebrate a wide spectrum of visions and voices in theatre.  Proud of its commitment to cutting-edge theatre, the group has presented such works as A New Brain,Violet, Assassins, Nine, and A Man of No Importance, to name just a few.  
4th Wall Theatre's next performance will be Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell's [title of show] on September 27, 28, 29 and October 4, 5 and 6.  The production will be directed by Greg Allen and musically directed by David Maglione and will feature John Wilkening, Jordan Gulick, Alexis Field and Marie Nicole.  [title of show] is every musical theatre geek's dream! The show chronicles its own creation as an entry in the New York Musical Theatre Festival, and follows the struggles of the author and composer/lyricist and their two actress friends during the initial brief (three-week) creative period, along with subsequent events leading up to the show's production.  In the span of 90 minutes they write and perform their show at the festival and learn lessons about themselves as people, friends and artists. [title of show] is, above all, a love letter to the musical theatre—a uniquely American art form—and to the joy of collaboration.

Marissa Mulder made her cabaret debut in 2011 and has gone on to perform three of her own critically acclaimed shows. Stephen Holden of the New York Times said of  her latest show " Tom... In His Words, the songs of Tom Waits"..  that it was "Far and away the season's best cabaret show, it's everything the genre can be but almost never is." Ms. Mulder has released two live cd's " Illusions" and " Tom In His Words" which are available for purchase on ITUNES, Cdbaby.com and Amazon. She is the recipient of the 2013 Julie Wilson Award and the 2013 Noel Coward Award presented by the Mabel Mercer Foundation. She will be appearing on two nights of the annual Cabaret Convention this October at Lincoln Center. She has played Town Hall, Joe's Pub, Stage 72 and the Metropolitan Room among others. She will also be playing the Cafe Carlyle this November. 

"Music at the Mansion" is a 2013 MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs) award nominated series showcasing talented performers from NYC and NJ.  The series is hosted by NYC Cabaret singer and Bloomfield resident Corinna Sowers-Adler and will feature Jarred Lee on piano. This program is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts and administered by the Essex County Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs.  Series hostess, Corinna Sowers-Adler, has been nominated as "Best Host of a Variety Show" and "Best Female Vocalist" for the 2012 Broadway World Cabaret Awards.  Sowers-Adler will make her Lincoln Center debut this fall in the 24th Annual Mabel Mercer Cabaret Convention on October 10 at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Tickets for "Music at the Mansion" are $10 per person and are available at the door.  Seating begins at 2:30pm.  Light refreshments will be served.  Oakeside Bloomfield Cultural Center is located at 240 Belleville Avenue, Bloomfield, NJ.  For more information, please contact info (at) corinnasings.com or call Oakeside at 973-429-0960.  Making beautiful music in a beautiful place with beautiful people...