Satirical Performing Group The Capitol Steps Reschedule April San Francisco Date

Satirical performing group The Capitol Steps has postponed its San Francisco production of The Lyin' Kings to January 2021.

With the topicality of politics as a source of anguish and humor at perhaps an all time high this election year, the nation's premiere political/musical/satire troupe brings some 'laugh therapy' to the city when they take over the Herbst Theater for an evening of live musical parody, stand-up comedy and pokes & prods as they proudly put the "mock" in Democracy by pulling directly from fresh headlines-not to mention the lingering zeitgeist!

Production originally scheduled for Saturday, April 4, Herbst Theater will now happen January 2021. Exact dates to be announced soon; more information at www.capsteps.com

"Our purpose," says Cap Steps performer and producer Mike Thornton (who plays Donald Trump in the show) "is to find the laughs amidst the buffoonery in our nation's capital. People approach me after shows all the time saying how much they needed a laugh, and I tell them, we call it laugh therapy. It works!"

Proudly putting the "MOCK" in Democracy since its founding in 1981, the group was originally made up of congressional staffers, but the past decade has seen the "Steps" harvest the talents of a number of finely-tuned musical theater professionals from around the country.

The Lyin' Kings draws its humor from not only today's headlines but twitter feeds as well and includes the latest songs about the Democratic primary candidates ("76 Unknowns") as well as the newest late-night thoughts from President Trump ("Tweet It").

And speaking of Trump, the troupe has more than a few shows scheduled for the spring in this election year in West Palm Beach, a mere 4 miles from Mar-a-Lago. When asked how attendance and the shows go over there, Thornton says, "They go great, the audience there seems to go out of their way to find us as opposed to us finding them!"

While the boomer demographic has long been something the troupe relies on, Thornton notes that millennials are showing up more and more. "Younger folks are starting to catch on for sure, perhaps partly because our approach really emphasizes the ridiculous elements at play in American politics."

With 3 casts performing 300-400 shows per year, do they worry about tripping the wires of political correctness or cancel culture? Especially at a time when politics seems more volatile then ever? "That's not something we worry too much about - we're equal opportunity offenders! That said, we don't offend overtly, we're in the business of vaudeville meets stand-up plus musical parody. The question is, with all that's going on, can we still laugh at politics anymore? And the answer is yes, we have to ... humor and puns may not be weapons but they are allies."

While the show is still in formation mode, audiences can expect such delicacies as Donald Trump singing a rock song, Bernie Sanders bellowing a show tune, or Vladimir Putin dancing shirtless. Ever wonder what it might be like if Nancy Pelosi, William Barr or Kim Jong-un appeared onstage together in a musical number? This might be your chance to see it happen. Also, don't be surprised if some golden oldies from the Obama and Bush eras crop up alongside potential appearances from Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rudy Giuliani.

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