from staff reports

 The highly regarded entertainment group, the Capitol Steps, will perform Friday, August 15 at 7:00 p.m. at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in downtown Asheville.

The performing group, made up primarily of current and former U.S. Senate and House staffers, collectively represents 62 years of Congressional experience. With members who come from both sides of the political aisle, they consider themselves “equal opportunity offenders.”

The group began in December 1981, when some staffers for Senator Charles Percy were planning entertainment for a Christmas party. Ronald Reagan was president, and Elaina Newport, Bill Strauss, and Jim Aidala concluded that if entertainers could become politicians, then politicians could become entertainers.

According to the group, “[Our] first idea was to stage a nativity play, but in the whole Congress we couldn’t find three wise men or a virgin.” Instead, the team dug into the headlines of the day for source material; soon they had created song parodies and skits that, after almost three decades, are as popular in Peoria as on Pennsylvania Avenue.

 “No matter who holds office, there’s never a shortage of material,” says cofounder Elaina Newport. “Typically, the Republicans goof up, and the Democrats party. Then, the Democrats goof up, and the Republicans party. That’s what we call the two-party system.”

Though based in Washington, DC, most of group’s shows are out of town or for out-of-town audiences.

They’ve played for groups like the National Welding Supply Association, countless university and high school audiences, and several state legislative groups, as well as for every president since Reagan. They have recorded 28 albums, including their latest, “Campaign and Suffering,” and have been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS. Four times a year the Capitol Steps present “Politics Takes a Holiday” specials on National Public Radio.

Typically, the material is topical and immediately recognizable, like their current number “A Leader Like Barack” (sung to the tune of “The Leader of the Pack”) and their spoof of President Bush and the Prime Minister of Japan reconciling their differences in “Stand By Japan” (to the tune of “Stand By Your Man”).

Tickets to the Asheville performance, are available through Ticketmaster or by calling the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium box office at (828) 259-5544 or go to Ticketmaster. For more information on the group visit the website at www.capsteps.com