Little Island’s revival of “The Gospel at Colonus” brings together a powerhouse ensemble of Black artists to tell a story of shame, exile and grace. At its center: the gospel singer and pastor Kim Burrell, who came under fire nine years ago after a sermon surfaced online in which she condemned homosexuality. Now, in her traditional theatrical debut, Burrell joins a production that asks whether redemption is possible.
“The Gospel at Colonus,” directed by Shayok Misha Chowdhury, is a joyous fusion of Greek tragedy and gospel music. This is the show’s first New York production not led by its writers, the composer Bob Telson and Lee Breuer, a founder of the experimental theater group Mabou Mines. The musical, first produced at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1983 and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1985, uses the melodic language of a Black Pentecostal church service to retell the story of Oedipus, the king of Thebes who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother, then gouged out his eyes in shame.
The original production starred Morgan Freeman as the pastor who tells Oedipus’ story and the Five Blind Boys of Alabama as the singers who give voice to his pain. Now, Chowdhury has assembled a multitalented cast: the R&B singer-songwriter serpentwithfeet; the actors and singers Stephanie Berry, Ayana George Jackson and Jon-Michael Reese; and, sharing Oedipus’s singing parts, the operatic bass-baritone Davóne Tines and the jazz musician Frank Senior. Burrell appears as Theseus, the king who offers Oedipus refuge at the end of his life.
Chowdhury, a Pulitzer-nominated playwright, studied and later taught about spirituals and other religious music at Stanford. He said he assembled this cast because of their voices. “There’s enormous sonic diversity under the umbrella of Black sacred music,” he wrote in an email, “and in gathering together a team for this production, I wanted to highlight that range of sounds and textures.”
Burrell is a gospel legend whose crossover success has led to performances with artists including Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston and Frank Ocean. But she’s also a polarizing figure. In late 2016, while she was promoting a new single with Pharrell Williams, a video surfaced of Burrell preaching against what she called the “perverted homosexual spirit.” The backlash was swift: Her planned appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” was canceled, as was her weekly radio show on KTSU in Houston. Pharrell posted on social media: “I condemn hate speech of any kind.”
As it all unfolded in early 2017, Burrell defended her comments. But last year at gospel’s Stellar Awards, she apologized. “I have, over the course of time and with much soul-searching, come to fully understand the reach and impact of my voice beyond gospel music,” she said. GLAAD called that “a first step toward full accountability and healing from a record of harmful, inaccurate rhetoric.”
If so, Burrell’s appearance in “Colonus” may represent another. Chowdhury, who is queer, has foregrounded sexuality in shows including “Prince Faggot” — a portrait of a Prince of Wales that meditates on white privilege in the gay community. “Colonus” also features several gay performers who grew up in Black churches, including Reese, Tines and serpentwithfeet, whose 2023 show “Heart of Brick” chronicled a search for love in Black gay clubs.
The show, which runs through July 26, has special significance to Little Island’s producing artistic director, Zack Winokur. He said that when he took over programming last year, “I had been thinking how great it would be to do something Greek because we have an amphitheater.” “The Gospel at Colonus” felt special because it delivered ancient material in a modern package.
Winokur was particularly excited about the show’s score, which he called “intoxicating and ecstatic and sublime.” As he thought about casting the show, Winokur was drawn to Burrell’s “totally singular” voice. Winokur said his team “had the core group already solidified” before approaching Burrell, “and we talked with each of them about their level of comfort” working with her.
Those conversations made him confident that Burrell’s remarks would not be an issue. “I think that apology has been accepted in a lot of places,” he said. “And you know, we’re believers in redemption.” Winokur said that he and Chowdhury also spoke with Burrell at length and felt enthusiastic about working with her. Burrell, who remembered watching the PBS recording of “The Gospel at Colonus” in the 1980s and recognizing Freeman from “The Electric Company,” was excited to join the team.
Her castmates have met her with generosity. Reese, who was cast in “Colonus” in May — after Burrell’s involvement was announced — is known for playing strong gay Black men in shows like “A Strange Loop,” “The Fires” and “All the World’s a Stage.” He “mostly” knew Burrell from her vocals on the singer-songwriter Ocean’s track “Godspeed,” he said, “but also, she’s known as your favorite riffer’s favorite riffer.”
Reese was aware of Burrell’s comments, but he said that he knew where she was coming from because of his own experiences in church as a child. “I planned to meet Kim Burrell as she was,” he said. “She does not seem uncomfortable in this room at all and treats everyone with great respect and joy and fun.” Reese said he was especially impressed with how Burrell has jumped into scripted theatrical work.
As she dives into “Colonus,” Burrell is still reckoning with how her language was received. “I have lived answering these questions for the last nine years because evidently it is still important. I won’t run from it,” she said. Burrell explained that she is making an effort to find new language to share her message of love, and that she brought that attitude into the rehearsal room.
Nevertheless, Burrell still defends some of her comments. She says they were misconstrued, and that she was using language she’d heard from others in church. “What people heard me do was recite what is in the Bible,” she said. But in retrospect, she regrets how her comments “put too many people in jeopardy of not realizing my love for them.”
Original cast members performed in “Colonus” off and on for 30 years, but this production includes just one: the organist Butch Heyward. Younger artists like Reese, Tines and Winokur said they first encountered the show not on PBS, but in the 2003 movie “Camp,” when Sasha Allen performed the takeaway tune “How Shall I See You Through My Tears.” (Tines calls the film “a staple of a certain era of queer life.”)
Burrell, 52, speaks of her collaborators affectionately, calling them “my babies.” That intergenerational communion is what the creative team is after. “We’re essentially trying to make a Venn diagram of all of our different existences,” Tines said, “to make this composite world to share with an audience.”
For Burrell, it’s also exciting to reach a new kind of congregation. “This production offers a hand, a hug, advice, perspective, opportunities to make a choice, things that make you think,” she said. “There are so many variables and opportunities for the people who come to leave here with something.”
For her, the show comes to an emotional peak when she leads the rafter-shaking anthem “Lift Him Up.” Oedipus has died, and Burrell calls on the singers to forgive him and help raise him up to immortality. “I’m so happy to sing that because I feel like, OK, good,” Burrell said. “He got restored. It’s just personal by that time for me.”
“Then the choir is going for it, and then it’s jubilation,” she added.
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