THE CAPITOL STEPS Are Coming to the Carolina Theatre

By: Sep. 05, 2017
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The Capitol Steps (www.capsteps.com), America's premiere political-musical-satire troupe to appear at the Carolina Theatre in Durham on Saturday, November 4th.

The troupe will offer its newest show, "Orange is the New Barack," a brand-new vaudeville-like comedy show with a mix of song and stand-up, lampooning our modern political leaders, taking on the major issues of the day and sharing songs from the group's newest album. There will be one show at 8:00 PM and will run for 90 minutes.

Tickets are on sale now at www.carolinatheatre.org/events/capitol-steps, in person at 309 W Morgan Street Durham NC, 27701 or by calling the box office at 919-560-3030, or via Ticketmaster.com / Ticketmaster Charge by phone at 800-745-3000.

The Capitol Steps are based in Washington, DC. No matter who or what is in the headlines, they tackle all sides of the political spectrum offering timely laugh therapy to audiences around the nation. They have performed for the last five Presidents (but not yet for President Trump). This formidable yet beloved group of comedian-singers carry on a tradition that began 35 years ago. "I've been a full-time performer with this nationally known political satire group for 20 years and looking forward to our return engagement in Tampa Bay," commented singer, actor, jazz-vocalist, producer, artistic Director Mike Thornton. "Our 90-minute show transcends all political views, and I get the last laugh because I get to play Donald Trump."

The troupe unleashed 32 albums to-date, will offer its newest show, "Orange is the New Barack," a brand-new vaudeville-like comedy show with a mix of song and standup. The audience will experience a light-hearted lampooning of our modern political leaders as they take on the major issues of the day, sharing songs from the group's newest album.

This is the group that puts the "MOCK" in Democracy. Originally made up of congressional staffers, the past decade has seen the "Steps" harvest the talents of finely-tuned musical theater professionals from around the country. They were nominated for the Drama Desk Awards for "Outstanding Lyrics."

The shows will provide such treats as "Scaramucci the Moocher" (parody of "Minnie The Moocher"), "Small Hands" (sung by Melania, a parody of Pointer Sister's "Slow Hand"), "Tweet Tweet" (a parody of "Rockin' Robin," inspired by the President's tweet storms), "Don't Know Much About History" (with Betsy DeVos crooning "Don't know much about history...Don't know much biology") and "Putin on the Blitz," based on "Puttin' on the Ritz," in which Vladimir explains his philosophy on asserting power ("...Russian force I must assert - don't make me take off my shirt - you'll say 'tsk tsk' - Putin is a risk...")

Taking a lesson from the Trump family--never miss a chance to slip in an endorsement for your business--this concert is named after the troupe's newest album, "Orange is the New Barack."

Capitol Steps shows, being headline-driven, are unpredictable. So the complete song list and cast list can't be forecast in advance. The troupe pounces on breaking news events in order to keep the show fresh. In the overheated news cycle surrounding our 45th president, this has been particularly challenging. Elaina Newport, a founding member of the group and one of its lead writers, says she's even texted updates to performers waiting backstage to go on. Mike Thornton, who plays Trump, asserts, "It's almost impossible to stay ahead of the buffoonery."

Political satire is good for you. A recent study found that post-election stress has been peaking among adults in blue states, and this is suppressing language growth and cognitive development in families with young children. So citizens are urged to laugh off their political angst and stretch the smile muscles, once again.

Originally, a group of Senatestafferswere planning a show for a Christmas party in 1981. 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. They adopted their name from a 1981 political scandal in which Representative John Jenrette allegedly had relations with his wife on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building.

The troupe has been featured on NBC, ABC, and CBS, tackling the foibles of elected officials through skit and song, transmuting scandals and shortcomings into pure laughter. Every year, the troupe also appears on multiple NPR stations nationwide during their "Politics Takes a Holiday" specials.



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