Capitol Steps – 1.22.16 – 7:30

Friday, January 22 at 7:30 p.m. – Hering Auditorium

Over 30 years ago, the Capitol Steps began as a group of Senate staffers who set out to satirize the very people and places that employed them. In the years that followed, many of the Steps ignored the conventional wisdom (“Don’t quit your day job!”), and although not all of the current members of the Steps are former Capitol Hill staffers, taken together the performers have worked in a total of eighteen Congressional offices and represent 62 years of collective House and Senate staff experience.

The Capitol Steps were born in December, 1981 when some staffers for Senator Charles Percy were planning entertainment for a Christmas party. Ronald Reagan was President when the Steps began, so co-founders Elaina Newport, Bill Strauss and Jim Aidala figured that if entertainers could become politicians, then politicians could become entertainers! 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, they decided to dig into the headlines of the day, and created song parodies and skits which conveyed a special brand of satirical humor that was as popular in Peoria as it was on Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Capitol Steps have recorded over 35 albums, including their latest, Mock the Vote. They’ve been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS, and can be heard twice a year on National Public Radio stations nationwide during their Politics Takes a Holiday radio specials.

No matter who or what is in the headlines, you can bet the Capitol Steps will tackle both sides of the political spectrum and all things equally foolish. What more would you expect from the group that puts the “MOCK” in Democracy?

This is really an amazing coup! We started working on this popular group several years ago, to make sure we could bring them in the heart of election season. Thanks to advance planning, we get to enjoy their amazing, headline sensitive, comic relief right between Iowa and New Hampshire and during the heart of January when we all really need a good laugh. The last time Capitol Steps were here it was -50, with the worst ice fog we’ve ever seen. We even considered cancelling because I thought it would be dangerous to drive. Well, we didn’t. The house was packed. My sides actually hurt from laughing so hard. They are just incredibly accomplished and hysterically funny.   -FCA

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Skills

Posted on

May 2, 2015