While the months leading up to a presidential election can be stressful for many in Washington, D.C., the presidential race provides a gold mine of material for the Capitol Steps.^[1]

The D.C.-based political satire troupe’s first performance was on Dec. 11, 1981 when a group of six staffers from Illinois Senator Charles H. Percy’s office entertained colleagues at his Christmas party.^[2] The performers were apprehensive about how they would be received. As co-founder Elaina Newport said, "We thought maybe we would offend people or somebody might fire us or tell us to stop."^[3] During their first performance, the group sang nine bipartisan song parodies and performed skits about political headlines and scandals of the day. Fortunately for the group, both the staffers and bosses laughed at all the right places! Following the Percy Christmas party, the group performed additional shows in hallways and foyers and other parties on the Hill.^[4]

Soon word started to leak out about the musical comedy emanating from Capitol Hill. By January 1984, the group — which named itself the Capitol Steps in reference to a scandal involving South Carolina Congressman John Jenrette and his wife Rita — had a regular gig at the Shoreham's Marquis Lounge, where they were frequently joined by local satirist Mark Russell.^[5] After a brief engagement at the Artists’ Room at the Bread Oven on Pennsylvania Avenue, the Steps moved to Chelsea’s cabaret in Georgetown in the fall of 1986.^[6]

Congressional scandals and elections dominated the troupe’s early repertoire. And, as co-founder Bill Strauss explained, the Steps made sure to poke fun at both sides of the aisle: "For some shows in the 1980’s we marked a little R (for Republican) and D (for Democrat) next to each song, indicating which way it tilted, making sure we never leaned too far one way or the other. Too many Ds and we’d write a new R song."^[7]

The comedy moonlighting presented some interesting challenges for the group’s members in their day jobs on the Hill. As co-founder Elaina Newport recalled, "We would go to some meeting, in advance of a hearing, only to have our hosts freeze in mid-discussion, peer at us, lean forward, and ask ‘Hey aren’t you the Capitol Steps?’ We’d admit that, yes, we were but that we also had real jobs to do after which they would often ask us, half in jest, whether we were looking for material."^[8]

The troupe’s transition from hobbyists to professional performers started in 1984 when Percy lost his bid for reelection. Bill Strauss quit his day job on the Hill in 1985 and "turned his downstairs den into the Capitol Steps World Headquarters."^[9] The first album The Capitol Steps-Live! at the Shoreham was released in the spring of 1985. 

In 1987 the Capitol Steps transformed from a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ‘charity’ to a real for-profit corporation headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.^[10] At the time, the rest of the cast quit their jobs on the Hill and made a full professional commitment to the group. However, in order to maintain the cachet of "Hill Staffers," the group made it a requirement that all Capitol Steps employees have some sort of past Capitol Hill experience on their resume.^[11]

This would remain a requirement until 1996, when the troupe expanded to keep up with demand during Bill Clinton’s reelection campaign. The Steps hired a number of new professional performers and expanded from one cast to five casts. Five troupes could now perform five shows in different locations simultaneously!

Over the years, the Capitol Steps have performed just about everywhere you can imagine, including high schools, public and private fundraisers, theaters, and festivals. They’ve appeared on television and radio and in front of Presidents and Vice Presidents. They even performed for the sequestered jury during the O.J. Simpson trial.^[12] During Presidential Election years, the group has shows practically every day leading up to the election, often three or four shows a day.^[13]

The shows are constantly changing according to the news headlines. As Newport told the Washington Post in 1985, “lyrics are often changed, axed or added minutes before show time.” This fact requires performers to be experts in quickly memorizing and performing songs. For example, a parody to the tune “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina,” about the Pope in 2015 was written and memorized by a Capitol Steps employee within four hours of show time.^[14]

Since 1981 the Capitol Steps have morphed from a hobby to a small business to a national touring company.^[15] The troupe has continued to reach an ever widening audience. They have produced 40 albums and published two books including Fools on the Hill and Sixteen Scandals: 20 Years of Sex, Lies and Other Habits of Our Great Leaders.

The Capitol Steps' humor isn't only directed at the folks on Capitol Hill. Local politicians are fair game, too, as D.C. mayor Marion Barry found out in 1990. Following the mayor's arrest for crack cocaine use, the Steps recorded “Proud Barry” to the tune of “Proud Mary.” Take a listen! (Audio used with permission of The Capitol Steps.)

Proud Barry Lyrics

He lost a good job in the city
Just cuz’ Mayor Barry 
Played a little joke
There is no escaping
The FBI was taping
Barry sayin’ everything goes better with coke
Big wheels keep on growing
Don’t you know that Proud Barry’s going to be going
Yes, he is!

Goin’ , Goin’, Goin’, Goin’,
Goin’ Up the River
That’s right!
Goin’, Goin’, Goin’, Goin’,
Goin’ Up the River

We’ll tell you all why he did it
He was watching television Sunday night
Saw em’ givin’ money
For a film that’s funny
So, he took a crack and got his name in lights!
The jury thinks’ it’s groovy
Yes, they do!
Watching Barry’s hot home movie
Ah Ha!

Rollin’ rollin’ rolllin’ rollin’
Rollin’ on the River
That’s Right!
Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’, rollin’
Rollin’ on the River

Rolling on Joan Rivers
Oh, yeah! Yeah!