The political satire troupe Capitol Steps poked fun at officials and candidates from all parts of the political spectrum Sunday at the kick-off event of the Kennedy Political Union's 40th anniversary lecture series.
The Capitol Steps performed in the Woods-Brown Amphitheatre in front of an audience comprised of students, faculty and alumni. Some members of the group formerly worked on Capitol Hill, and each Step continues the legacy of the Capitol Hill staffers who formed the group in 1981.
Ann Johnson, who portrayed Hillary Clinton during Sunday's performance and worked for former Sen. John Culver, D-Iowa, before she joined the Capitol Steps in 1993, said her group can help students at AU and other colleges become more familiar with today's issues.
"Hopefully, they might hear a song about something they don't know much about and go out and find out more about it," she said.
Eight of the Capitol Steps' 20 acts dealt directly with the 2008 presidential election. Among these acts were a song about the media's apparent bias in favor of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, and an interactive song in which the audience had the opportunity to cheer for either Obama or presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain.
Ken O'Regan, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he thought the show's highlights included a segment in which the actor who played McCain danced to the Capitol Steps' song "Dance McCain," a parody of musical group ABBA's song "Dancing Queen."
"I liked the McCain dancing. It's been done before, but unlike McCain, it doesn't get old," he said.
The Capitol Steps' other acts dealt with topics such as former Vice President Al Gore's campaign against global warming, North Korea's development of weapons of mass destruction and criticisms of the Metrorail system.
Phil Cardarella, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs, said the Capitol Steps have the ability to make people who do not regularly follow or participate in politics laugh.
"It was a creative and clever show that was entertaining not only to those who are politically active but also to everyone around," he said.
KPU will celebrate its 40th anniversary Sept. 16. The next KPU event features former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., and will occur Sept. 6 at 5:30 p.m. in the amphitheatre. People interested in entering to win a ticket for a post-event VIP reception with Gingrich can send an e-mail to kputickets@ausg.org, with "KPU Ticket Giveaway" in the subject line and their name and phone number in the body of the e-mail.
KPU Director Bill DeBaun said he was happy to continue the tradition of commencing the academic year's KPU lecture series with a Capitol Steps performance.
"The Capitol Steps are the right mix of fun and politics right before students begin their academic experience for the year," he said.
New Student Programs co-sponsored the event.
You can reach this staff writer at hperlman@theeagleonline.com
