Putting the “mock” in Democracy

The Capitol Steps perform at OCCC

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.

Since they began, 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.

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.

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?!

“The Capitol Steps make it easier to leave public life,” said Former President George H. W. Bush

The Capitol Steps performance will be August 22, 8pm, in the OCCC Visual and Performing Arts Center. For information and tickets, contact the Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC) Visual and Performing Arts Center at (405) 682-7579 or visit www.occc.edu/pas.

The Gayly – August 16, 2015 @ 3:25pm.