Musical Political Satirists The Capitol Steps at Keene State
KEENE, N.H., 3/4/08 - America’s most popular musical political satirists, The Capitol Steps, will bring their own special brand of humor to skewer the current race for the Whitehouse when they appear at Keene State College’s Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond, Tuesday, March 25, at 7:30 p.m. The performance is made possible through the support of Markem Corporation.
Though their performance will include topics as current as today’s headlines or the scandal of the day, the audience can also expect a few titles such as “I’m So Indicted,” “Don’t Go Fakin’ You’re Smart,” “Lust in Space,” “Axles of Evil,” “Iraq Around the Clock,” and the ever popular “Lirty Dies” in its 2008 version “Kesidential Prandidates.” To hear some of these songs and more, visit The Capitol Steps’ website, www.capsteps.com.
Twenty-seven years ago, the 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 18 Congressional offices and represent 62 years of collective House and Senate staff experience.
Since they began, The Capitol Steps have recorded 27 albums, including their latest, Springtime for Liberals. They’ve been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS, and can be heard four 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 some staffers for Senator Charles Percy were planning entertainment for a Christmas party. Ronald Reagan was President when the Steps began, so cofounders Elaina Newport, Bill Strauss, and Jim Aidala figured that if entertainers could become politicians, then politicians could become entertainers! 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.
Most cast members 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.”
Tickets are available through the Brickyard Pond box office at 603-358-2168 or on the web at www.keene.edu/racbp. Prices are $35 and $30 for the general public, $33 and $28 for seniors and KSC faculty and staff, $18 and $16 for youth ages 17 years and younger, and $5 for KSC students with an ID.
Tickets for all of the Redfern’s presenting events and performances by the departments of Music and Theatre and Dance are also available. Patrons can still purchase 20/20 memberships that enable them to receive a 20% discount for all Presenting Series performances.
