Behind the Scenes with Capitol Steps

Lisa Condit spoke with Elaine Newport, one of the founders of The Capitol Steps. The comedy troupe comes to Worcester this Sunday for their latest show, “Orange is the New Barack.” Read on for highlights from her WCRN 830 AM Interview, or listen to the full interview below!

Lisa: Can you give us a brief description of how Capitol Steps was formed and why it’s been so popular for so long?

Elaine: We started as a bunch of Senate staffers who were trying to figure out what we should do for the Christmas Party entertainment. We worked for Senator Percy from Illinois and we couldn’t figure out what to do. We decided to write some song parodies and make fun of the President and our bosses, and now, 35 years later, we’re still going, because no one told us to stop.

Lisa: You guys can’t make this stuff up, right?

Elaine: Right! We’ve been through many presidents, and I can’t remember a time when people haven’t come up to me and said “you must be having a field day right now.” Politics is always amusing, especially the party in power.

Lisa: Larry King described you as “the best,” saying “there’s no one in their league.” That’s quite the compliment.

Elaine: We do try to get everybody. We have a lot of Trump songs right now, but we will get Elizabeth Warren in the show, Bernie, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Shumer. We try to balance out the Trumps and the Pences with that, and everybody has a good time.

Lisa: Nobody is safe.

Elaine: If you want to see Donald Trump sing a rock song, Bernie Sanders sing a show tune and Vladimir Putin dance shirtless, this is the show for you.

Lisa: If that doesn’t sell it, I don’t know what does. I do have to warn you that some content may be PG-13.

Elaine: I did mention the partial nudity of Vladimir Putin. Of course, if you’re not shocked by primetime TV, we’re somewhere in there. Politics is so divisive lately that sometimes you want to throw your TV at the wall. I say come to the show and save your TV set!

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