On April 2, 2009, Funnye was invited for the first time "to speak at a white, mainstream synagogue in New York", at the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, a Reform congregation. He called it his "Broadway debut". The congregation had reached out to black Jewish congregations to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and about one-quarter of the audience were black Jews. Funnye spoke about King and Barack Obama, the night before the latter's inauguration as president. The next day he and his family went to Washington to join the Obamas in inaugural events.