They’re Baaack: Capitol Steps Return to the Met Theatre

By Michelle Wolford, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

Mar. 30–Do you have plans for April Fool’s Day? Why not spend a few hours of it laughing, and while you’re at it, help out The Rotary Club of Morgantown? The Capitol Steps, a Washington, D.C., based sketch-comedy troupe, will return to the Metropolitan Theatre at 8 p.m. Saturday. The group performed a soldout show there last March. John McConnell of Blue Dolphin Productions is bringing the group back. McConnell said the show is a fund-raiser for The Rotary Club of Morgantown and there are still good seats left for the performance. You may purchase tickets for $25 at Books-A-Million at Glenmark Centre, through www.ticketweb.com, at the Monongalia Arts Center or John P. Kuehn Gemologist on High Street. Last year’s show was the only Met Theatre show to officially sell out, McConnell said. Dan Miller, a Rotary Club member and research associate at WVU, was in the audience at that show. He said his ribs hurt before it was over. “It was excellent. It was hilarious,” he said. “I’d highly recommend it.” Miller said it’s much like high school skit comedy. “Someone comes out in costume, but before they even open their mouth, everyone is laughing.” It helps that the Steps portray recognizable characters — Condoleeza Rice, Vice President Dick Cheney and many others. Many members of the troupe started out as Senate staffers with a penchant for satire. They’ve worked in 18 Congressional offices and collectively have 62 years of House and Senate staff experience. The group has been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC and PBS and can be heard four times a year on NPR during its “Politics Takes a Holiday” specials. “One of the most challenging things they do,” Miller said, “I think they call it Double Speak.” He explained that if the players want to tell a story about Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinski, they’ll instead say Cill Blinton and Lonica Mewinski. “Your brain’s about three seconds behind them the whole way, but it’s rather enjoyable,” he said. “I’d highly recommend it.”"It’s a musical,” McConnell said. “They truly are one of the funniest national troupes — and they certainly have a lot to work with — Dick Cheney, Osama Bin Laden, George W. Bush’s approval rating, Condi Rice — all they have to do is sit at home and wait for the next political blunder. “They’ve reached a national level of popularity and it’s good to be able to bring them here. They’re a crowd-pleaser. Most people were laughing so hard last year, they were crying. They’re all really good actors. Almost any one of them could be on ‘Saturday Night Live.’ “”We’re glad to have them back. It’s a slow process building up shows at the Met and I hope the community will embrace them like they did last year, when we sold out the Met.” The performance benefits The Rotary Club of Morgantown and its community service projects, including scholarships, meals for the homeless and roadside clean ups.

—–

Copyright (c) 2006, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

NASDAQ-NMS:BAMM,