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The Capitol Steps Perform Three Shows In March
Napa, CA – Political satirists the Capitol Steps return to the Napa Valley Opera House performing their special brand of humor with three shows beginning Friday, March 9 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, March 10 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tickets are $40 and $35.Twenty-six 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 18 Congressional offices and represent 62 years of collective House and Senate staff experience.
Since they began, the Capitol Steps have recorded 26 albums, including their latest, I'm So Indicted. They've been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC and PBS and can be heard four times 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.
The Steps’ material is updated constantly and may include George Bush's latest malapropism, in "Don't Go Fakin' You're Smart" (to Elton John's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart") or John Kerry's positions on the issues ("I've Taken Stands on Both Sides Now") or on the international side, Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas reconciling their differences in the touching "Embraceable Jew." No matter who's in the headlines, the Capitol Steps are equal opportunity offenders.
WHO: Capitol Steps
WHAT: Political Satire
WHEN: Friday, March 9, 8 PM & Saturday, March 10, 2 PM & 8 PM
COST: $40/$35
WHERE: Napa Valley Opera House, 1030 Main Street, Napa, CA 94559
PUBLIC INFO: (707)-226-7372, www.NVOH.ORG
CONTACT: Teri Stevens, teri@nvoh.org, 707-603-2338
More than 30 years in the making, The Napa Valley Opera House, a national historic landmark, restored the Margrit Biever Mondavi Theatre in June 2003, a second-floor theatre that was originally constructed in 1879. The NVOH 2007 Fall Season marks the fifth year of programming in the intimate 500-seat theatre, the “Jewel of Napa Valley” located in the heart of downtown Napa. Patrons experience an eclectic array of performing arts including theatre, dance, comedy, jazz, blues, world music, and family programming in a world class setting.
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