The Capitol Steps

THE CAPITOL STEPS Putting the “Mock” in Democracy

PHOTO BY JUDY ONDREY

Saturday, March 28 8:00 p.m. When it comes to political theater, Washington, D.C. offers a rich, inexhaustible vein that the Capitol Steps have been spinning into song parodies and sketch comedy gold for audiences across the U.S. for close to 40 years. Putting the “mock” in democracy since 1981, the Capitol Steps return to the Rialto Center with a brand-new show.

Tastefully lampooning politicians, Beltway happenings, and the day’s headlines, the Capitol Steps shows are constantly changing and strenuously bi-partisan. All points on the political spectrum are welcomed and dutifully skewered.

The group was started in 1981 by Elaina Newport, Bill Strauss, and Jim Aidala, staff members for Illinois Republican senator Charles Percy. They figured that if the newly elected President, Ronald Reagan, could be a politician, they, political operatives, were permitted to be entertainers. Born as a playful intra-party jab, the three Senate staffers

created satiric song parodies and comedy sketches that quickly proved be as popular in the Rust, Bible, Grain, and Sun Belts as they were inside the Beltway.

Across six presidential administrations— no matter which party is in power, which individuals hold office, or who is in the headlines— the Capitol Steps have tackled both sides of the political aisle with equal pizazz, punch, and playfulness.

The Capitol Steps offer audiences two assurances: everyone’s politics will get spoofed and everybody’ll leave laughing.

Since they began, the Capitol Steps have recorded over 35 albums, including their latest, “The Lyin’ Kings.” 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.