Laughs will literally step into town tomorrow as the highly-touted musical political satire group The Capitol Steps will perform in Spaulding Auditorium.
The Steps have a well-deserved record for being the premier political comedy troupe. "Ingenious" and "hilarious" are adjectives that only begin to describe this clever production.
With the New Hampshire primary less than a week away, the Steps' well-timed visit will add a comic flavor to the political hype gripping the state. This weekend's performance will have more political overtones to cover a number of candidates in the approaching primaries, although the Steps normally try to devote about equal time to politics and other headlines.
The 21-member comedy troupe started in 1981 and is composed of past and present Congressional staffers. The spoofing started at a Senate Christmas party. The joke goes that a Nativity play could not be performed because there weren't three wise men and a virgin in Congress.
Performing political satire days before the primary is akin to a snowfall on Christmas.
While performer Elaina Newport said New Hampshire is ahead of the curve, it's still hard to make a joke about lesser-known candidates.
"We look forward to honing in on the frontrunners because people are focusing on who they are rather than spreading their attention over a wide field."
No matter the political or philosophical bent of an audience, the Steps try to be bipartisan and even include comedy on the third party politics.
Inclusion of the latest breaking scandalous headline is a testament to the professionalism of the Steps. Newport said it isn't unusual for news to break in the-mid afternoon and for the performance to satirize the event that night. Often the performers fax lyrics to one another to keep pace with events unfolding around them.
"If something happens, we deal with it right away. We learn to cram and concentrate on learning it. Some of your best lines get made when people forget real lyrics."
Covering 30 to 35 songs and skits during the show, the performance assumes a frenetic pace. The rush is magnified for the five cast members who rush off and on stage to throw on a new wig or outfit and come out in time for the next number.
"We send out different combinations all the time, so we're always mixing it up. Doing the show with [different] people every night keeps it fresh," Newport, who acts in about a third of the 300 shows each year, said.
This weekend's audience will be treated to a new song about an old target -- Bill Clinton. In "Livin' Libido Loca," a play off of Ricky Martin's chart-topper, "Livin' La Vida Loca."
The group is working on a new Bill Bradley song entitled "I Got Arrhythmia," but the Democratic candidate poses a problem of physical proportions for the group -- no one is tall enough to play him, requiring a foam head for the appropriate effect.
"Dartmouth is always a fun crowd, and one of the smartest we've come across," Newport said about the Steps' performance at the College a few years ago.
To avoid an overdose of politics, the routine spoofs other headlines.
Nonetheless, Newport said with "a lot of wordplay and making fun of politicians saying controversial things, you can always find a way into something."
The Capitol Steps will appear in Spaulding Auditorium tomorrow, January 28, at 8:00 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. Tickets for the late show are available at the Hopkins Center box office.
