Capitol Steps lay on the sass with song

Author: Mike Murali

Last Saturday, The Capitol Steps performed at the Pepin Gymnasium to a packed audience of students, visiting parents, faculty and community members. This crew of musical jokesters made light of politics, poking fun at famous political figures such as John Kerry, Al Gore, President Bush, Dick Cheney and famous foreign leaders as well as satirized events from the 2000 presidential elections to the Mark Foley scandal.

"This was the third time The Capitol Steps have performed at Midd, the first two being Fall 2003 and Fall 2005," said MCAB Special Events Chair David Schoenholtz '07, who was in charge of bringing The Capitol Steps to the College. "The Capitol Steps are an extremely talented, hilarious comedy troupe. They are always entertaining, evidenced by the audience's constant laughing during the show."

This year marks the 25th anniversary of The Capitol Steps. The group originally started with Senate staffers who wished to satirize their employers. Many eventually quit their jobs to work full time with the group "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," the troupe's Web site explains. Since their creation, the group has recorded 26 albums, including "I'm So Indicted," their most recent.

How did The Capitol Steps get to the College this year? "MCAB has a good relationship with The Capitol Steps, so shortly after last year's show, we asked them to come back and they happily agreed," said Schoenholtz. "They really love coming to Middlebury and are a big hit among parents, so there was never any doubt about bringing them back for Fall Family Weekend."

The show itself sold out and for the most part, everyone went home happy. There were some mixed reviews, however. Benjamin de Leiris '09, claimed that "It was slightly more offensive and a little less funny than last year, but overall a good show."

Indeed, The Capitol Steps include edgy material in their performances. Their track list included "It's Not Easy Being Pope" (a spin-off of Kermit the Frog's "It's Not Easy Being Green"), "Embraceable Jew (of Ira and George Gershwin's "Embraceable You") and "If I Were A Real Mensch" (of The Fiddler on the Roof's "If I Were A Rich Man").

Among the funnier skits included those referencing Congressman Mark Foley, who is under investigation for having inappropriate instant messenger conversations with former interns, songs about the presidency of George W. (or "Yubble-Doo") Bush and poking fun at both ends of the political spectrum, but especially the Republicans. They even made fun of people in the entertainment industry, including Britney Spears and Mel Gibson.

One song joked about the recent comments made by the Pope concerning the Islamic community, singing "It's not easy being Pope/Having to spend every day with rosaries and such/And you think it would be cooler to be Buddhist or Amish or any other religion that isn't always having to pay off altar boys and has trouble with the Mid-East all the time."

There will not be any more acts like The Capitol Steps coming to the College in the near future. However, that doesn't mean the laughs are over. Comedian Tim Young will perform on Saturday, November 4th, and other scheduled comedians are soon to come.

For more information on The Capitol Steps, you can go to their website at www.capsteps.com or view their Myspace profile at http://www.myspace.com/capitalstepscomedy.