76 unknowns

I and my friend and debate partner had an enjoyable afternoon and evening together. In the afternoon we attended a performance of the Capitol Steps as part of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival. The Capitol Steps is a group of five actor/singers plus a pianist who do political satire. They started the show by saying “We put the mock in democracy!”

They come on stage wearing a variety of costumes (mostly thrown over a basic outfit) and wigs representing the major political figures. They do a short skit and a song. The song is usually parody words to a well known tune. For example, the first song was about the huge field of candidates for the Democratic nominee for president. The tune was 76 Trombones, the words began “76 unknowns.”

The skits were funny, the song lyrics were clever, the singing was good. All made for an enjoyable couple of hours. Even if I had to sit through someone impersonating the nasty guy (which brought out some boos).

I had seen a performance of this group more than 20 years ago. Back then they said all the cast members were congressional staffers. Now they are all professionally trained singers and actors. I checked their schedule of upcoming shows. From that it is obvious they have more than one cast. One group performs every Friday and Saturday in the Ronald Reagan building in Washington and perhaps travels around the country. Another will do daily shows at the Cranwell Resort in Lenox, Mass for the entire summer.

And in the evening my friend and I had a pleasant supper together.