Interview with the Artist Walker Vreeland (walker@wbaz.com)

Broadway icon Chita Rivera is a two-time Tony Award winner, has recieved a total of 10 Tony nominations and is the first Hispanic woman and the first Latino American ever to receive the Kennedy Center honors. Her first major role on Broadway was Anita in the original Broadway cast of West Side Story. She's also well known for starring as Rosie in the original Broadway cast of Bye Bye Birdie with Dick van Dyke, and as Velma Kelly in the original Broadway cast of Chicago opposite Gwen Verdon. Chita won her first Tony in 1983 for her performance in The Rink opposite Liza Minnelli. Ten years later, she won her second Tony for her starring role in Kiss of the Spider Woman on Broadway. Chita was also cast in the film version of Sweet Charity, in which she played Nicky opposite Shirley MacLaine. Chita's critically-acclaimed concert dates continued to play to ovations from packed houses around the world.

Seth Sikes is a performer and director. His directing credits include BUNKED! (Outstanding Musical at the New York Fringe Festival) and The 7th Annual Broadway Beauty Pageant.  He was the Assistant Director of The Nance (Broadway), Tribes (Off-Broadway), Pageant (Off-Broadway), and Sondheim: The Birthday Concert (at Lincoln Center).  As a performer he appeared in Fame on 42ND Street (Off-Broadway). He made his Feinstein’s/54 Below debut with his acclaimed show Seth Sikes Sings Judy Garland enjoyed a sold-out run and was named  Broadway World’s Best Tribute Show. His new show: Seth Sikes Sings Liza Minnelli will continue at Feinstein’s/54 Below on May 2 at 9:30 and June 8th at 7:00PM. For tickets, visit 54below.com

Heart's Ann Wilson gets real with WBAZ'S Walker Vreeland ahead of her March 25th performance at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center. Purchase tickets online at www.whbpac.org

Emmy Award winning film producer and director Marc Levin, along with his documentary film partner Daphne Pinkerson, has produced 11 films for HBO's documentary film division, most recently: Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags, and Hard Times: Lost on Long Island. His new film Class Divide, a look into the modern effects of gentrification in the New York neighborhood of West Chelsea is making its world premiere at this year's Hamptons International Film Festival.
Levin is best known for the docu-series Brick City, about the city of Newark, New Jersey, its mayor, Cory Booker, and the people on the frontlines of a city struggling to change. The series won the 2010 Peabody award and was nominated for an Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking. It aired on the Sundance channel. Levin's dramatic feature film, SLAM, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and the Camera D'Or at Cannes in 1998.

Artist Andrea Kowch has been described as “a powerful voice emerging, demonstrating a highly sensitive consciousness that informs a culturally-laced symbolism.” Her paintings are rich in mood, allegory, and precision of medium, reflecting a wealth of influences from Northern Renaissance and American art to the rural landscapes and vernacular architecture of her native Michigan. Andrea has receive numerous Best of Show awards in various juried exhibitions, and her work has been showcased at the Muskegon Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Jacksonville, the Grand Rapids Art Museum, ArtPrize, Art Basel Miami, the Los Angeles Art Show, ArtHamptons, SCOPE NYC, and Sag Harbor’s RJD Gallery.  Kowch resides and works in Michigan where she paints full-time, and serves as an adjunct professor at the College for Creative Studies. She is represented exclusively by RJD Gallery in Sag Harbor, New York.

Comedian Rita Rudner talk dancing, end-of-summer sales in Westhampton Beach, her love of dresses, men, Botox in Las Vegas, and how an in-flight meeting with Ben Stein lead her to adopt a child- all while delivering one zinger after another. If you need a good laugh, (or twenty), listen to this episode. You won't be disappointed. *Rita will be performing at 54 Below this weekend! For tickets, visit http://54below.com*