December 16, 2024 - Six, Merriam-Webster's word of the year, and Midwinter Revels

Tony award-winning musical  “Six,” in all of its exuberant defiance, reclaims history for Henry VIII’s six wives. Now the queendom reigns at Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre by way of Broadway in Boston. Today two of the queens  – Danielle Mendoza who stars as Anne of Cleves  and  Alizé Cruz  who stars as Catherine Howard –  join The Culture Show. Six is onstage through December 29th. To learn more go here.From there Edgar B. Herwick III is joined by Merriam-Webster’s  editor at large, Peter Sokolowski about the word of the year: “polarization.”  They talk about how Merriam-Webster decides on the word of the year, how they track linguistic trends and some history behind the famed dictionary.Finally, we tap into a holiday tradition, “Midwinter Revels.” This year’s theme merges the Irish and Cabo Verdean cultures and seasonal customs in “The Selkie Girl and the Seal Woman.”  Director and Revels’ interim artistic director Debra Wise, Revels’ music director Elijah Botkin, vocalist and musician Liz Hanley and David Coffin, Revels’  artist-in-residence, join us for an overview. “Midwinter Revels: The Selkie Girl and the Seal Woman” is onstage at Sanders Theatre through December 28th. To learn more go here.