Arts & Entertainment
Ellen DeGeneres scraps Kim Burrell from show for homophobic sermon
gospel singer says she has no “no excuses or apologies”
Gospel singer Kim Burrell will no longer be performing on Thursday’s episode of “Ellen,” Ellen DeGeneres announced on Tuesday.
Burrell was scheduled to perform “I See Victory” from the “Hidden Figures” soundtrack alongside Pharrell Williams. However, after a video was released of Burrell giving a sermon on the “homosexual spirit” atĀ Love & Liberty Fellowship Church in Houston, DeGeneres says Burrell will not appear.
“For those asking, Kim Burrell will not be appearing on my show,” DeGeneres tweeted.
For those asking, Kim Burrell will not be appearing on my show.
ā Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) January 3, 2017
“Everybody in this room who’s filled with the homosexual spirit, beg God to free you,” Burrell says in the sermon. “You play with it. What does that mean? You’ll die from it. You play with it in God’s house in 2017, you’ll die from it.”
āYou as a man, you open your mouth and take a manās penis in your face, you are perverted,” Burrell continues. “You are a woman and will shake your face in another womanās breast, you are perverted.”
In a Facebook Live video, Burrell defended her comments and said she “never said all gays were going to hell” and she makes “no excuses or apologies.”
“I never said ‘LGBT.’ I said ‘sin’,” Burrell says. “To every person who is dealing with the homosexual spirit, that has it, I love you and God loves you but God hates the sin in you and me. Anything that is against the nature of God.”
Williams indirectly addressed the controversy with an Instagram post.
āI condemn hate speech of any kind,ā Williams writes. āThere is no room in the world for any kind of prejudice. My greatest hope is for inclusion and love for all humanity in 2017 and beyond.ā
Arts & Entertainment
2024 Best of LGBTQ DC Readers’ Choice Award Finalist Voting
It is time to celebrate the best of LGBTQ+ DC! You nominated and now we have our finalists. Vote for your favorites in our 2024 Best of LGBTQ DC categories through September 23rd. Our 2024 Best of LGBTQ DC will be announced at the Best of LGBTQ DC Awards Party on October 17th and our special issue will come out on Friday, October 18th.
Thank you to our sponsors: ABSOLUT, Crush, Infinite Legacy & Wild Side Media.
VOTE BELOW OR BY CLICKING HERE!
Out & About
Nu Sass Productions to celebrate 15th anniversary
‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead’ performed at DC Arts Center
Nu Sass Productions will mark its 15th anniversary with a resurrection of āRosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Deadā beginning Friday, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m. at the DC Arts Center.
āRosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Deadā debuted at the Capital Fringe Festival in 2009 and will return this year with a new cast and crew.
Tickets cost $30 and can be purchased via the Nu Sass website.
Theater
Explore new venues, productions during D.C. Theatre Week
30 shows, including musicals, comedies, dramas, premieres, and more
2024 Theatre Week
Sept. 26-Oct. 13
Theatreweek.org
For Michael Ramirez, theater remains an ongoing source of inspiration and pleasure. As a little boy in El Paso, Texas, his mom took him to see lots of kidsā shows. And later in high school, he played one of the Sharks in āWest Side Story.ā All fond memories.
At the University of Texas in Austin for social work (undergraduate) and social work/public administration (graduate school) and then as a successful human resources professional and policy wonk in Washington, Ramirez continued to enjoy theater from the audience or behind the scenes. Now retired, he serves as a Helen Hayes Awards judge and board member at Woolly Mammoth Theatre.
Theatre Washington is the umbrella organization that not only produces the Helen Hayes Awards but also Theatre Week, an annual celebratory launch of the season with shows at low prices, a free kickoff fest, and other fun events.
The 2024 Theatre Week, explains Ramirez, features about 30 varied productions in the DMV, including musicals, comedies, dramas, new works, premieres, and works geared to young audiences. And tickets are affordably discounted at $60, $40, and $20.
āItās a great opportunity to take a chance on a theater that you might not be familiar with,ā he says. āWhen it comes to seeing shows, a lot of people think Kennedy Center or Fordās. This can be an introduction to something entirely new. D.C. is a busy theater town with lots of companies and venues.ā
At the heart of Theatre Week are its plays and musicals. Ramirez has already made his list.
His picks include GALA Hispanic Theatreās āThe 22+ Weddings of Hugoā featuring out actor Carlos Castillo as Hugo and staged by out director JosĆ© Zayas; busy out playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkinsā āThe Comeuppanceā at Woolly Mammoth; and āRosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Deadā at Nu Sass Productions.
He also plans to see Mosaic Theatreās āLady Day at Emersonās Bar and Grill,ā a play with music about jazz legend/queer icon Billie Holiday starring Roz White; ExPats Theatreās āMarlene,ā featuring Karin Rosnizeck as legendary diva Marlene Dietrich; and Rorschach Theatreās āSleeping Giantā written by gay playwright Steve Yockey well known as the developer of the HBO Max comedy-drama television series āThe Flight Attendant.ā
Ramirez adds, āAnd as a good gay, I canāt miss āSondheim Tribute Revueā at Creative Cauldron.ā
There are also parties and outdoor events. He advises a few of his favorites.
On Monday, Sept. 9, Woolly Mammoth hosts a Theatre Week Launch Party replete with drinks and season sneak peaks (invitation only).
The Historic Theatre Walking Tour (Sept. 21) asks the public to check out downtown D.C. theaters with guides Farar Elliot and Chris Geidner (free). And with City on the River Concert (Sept. 22), Theatre Washington returns to the D.C. Wharf Transit Pier to present āmusical theater showstoppersā from a dozen of the seasonās upcoming shows (free).
Next up itās āDC Theatre at the Natsā (Sept. 24), a night out at the ballgame that baseball lover Ramirez is sure to attend. And typically, he says, performers from a local show or company are booked to sing the anthem ($20).
And big event Kickoff Fest 2024, an all-afternoon event for all ages, takes place on Sept. 28 at Arena Stage (also free).
Not surprisingly Ramirez fell for another theater aficionado. He and husband John Ralls got together in 1990 and married in 2014. Ralls is a board member at Rorschach.
As board members, they āfunction as ambassadors and marketers for the theater. We reach into our pockets and write the checks. We buy the season tickets, and encourage our friends to do the same.ā
Ramirez enthusiastically reiterates: āTheatre Week is especially fun. Again, tickets are reasonable. Thereās everything from puppet plays at Glen Echo Park to something more serious. Itās the perfect chance to try something new.ā
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