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CAPITOL STEPS
POLITICAL SATIRE TROUPE
The Capitol Steps are a troupe of Congressional staffers-turned-comedians who travel the country satirizing the very people and places that once employed them. The Capitol Steps perform over 400 shows a year all over the country, covering territory from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon.
Since they began, the Capitol Steps have recorded 18 albums, including their latest, “Unzippin’ My Doo-Dah.” They’ve been featured on 3 national PBS specials, numerous TV shows, and can be heard 4 times a year on National Public Radio stations nationwide during their “Politics Takes a Holiday” radio specials.
The Capitol Steps were born in December, 1981 when 3 staffers for Senator Charles Percy were planning entertainment for a Christmas party. Their first idea was to stage a nativity play, but in the whole Congress they couldn’t find three wise men or a virgin! So, Capitol Steps decided to dig into the headlines of the day, and created song parodies & skits which conveyed a special brand of satirical humor that was as popular in Peoria as it was on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Ronald Reagan was President when the Capitol Steps began, so co-founders Elaina Newport, Bill Strauss and Jim Aidala figured that if entertainers could become politicians, then politicians could become entertainers! Since then, The Capitol Steps have had over 4,500 performances in 48 states. The Capitol Steps now has 22 cast members, 5 of whom are on stage for any one show.
Most cast members of The Capitol Steps have worked on Capitol Hill; some for Democrats, some for Republicans, and others for politicians who firmly straddle the fence. No matter who holds office, there’s never a shortage of material. Says Elaina Newport; “Typically the Republicans goof up, and the Democrats party. Then the Democrats goof up and the Republicans party. That’s what we call the two-party system.”
Their material is updated constantly, whether to include George Bush’s latest malapropism in “Don’t Go Fakin’ You’re Smart” (to Elton John’s “Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart”) or their own Little Orphan Army in “Osama Come Out, Tomorrow.” Whether it’s politicians or Mike Tyson (“Pardon Me Boys, Is this the Chap Who Tried to Chew You?), the Capitol Steps are equal opportunity offenders.
