Capitol Steps group returns to Hemmens
The Hemmens will welcome back the Capitol Steps at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28. Performing more than 500 shows a year all over the country; the Capitol Steps are a troupe of congressional staffers-turned-comedians who satirize the very people and places that once employed them.
Since they began, the Capitol Steps have recorded 25 albums, including their latest, "Campaign and Suffering." They've been featured on "Good Morning America," "The Today Show," "20/20," "Entertainment Tonight," "Nightline," CNN's "Inside Politics," and dozens of times on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." For the past 16 years, they've produced quarterly specials for public radio and have been featured in three national specials for public television.
The Capitol Steps were born in December 1981, when three staffers for Illinois Sen. 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!" 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.
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. Since then, the Steps have had more than 4,500 performances in 48 states. The group now has 22 cast members, five of whom are on stage for any one show.
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 $60 for Golden Circle, $40 for main floor and $35 for balcony. Tickets for this show and all of The Hemmens' 2008-09 Performing Arts Season are on sale now at the Hemmens box office, 45 Symphony Way, Elgin, IL 60120. To order by phone, call (847) 931-5900 or order online at www.hemmens.org.