THE CAPITOL STEPS Opens 10/12 at Aurora's Paramount Theatre

It's an election year - meaning many people are in need of laughs. Enter The Capitol Steps, a political satire group who are setting out to put the "mock" in "democracy" on Friday, Oct. 12, at 8 p.m. at the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora. Tickets are $30-$35. For tickets and information, go to ParamountAurora.com, call the Paramount box office, (630) 896-6666, or visit the box office Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., or two hours prior to evening performances.

About The Capitol Steps

The Capitol Steps have performed for the past five presidents (six if you include Hillary). The only complaints The Capitol Steps seem to get are from politicians and personalities who are not included in the program! The material is updated constantly. Recent examples include songs about Mitt Romney's plea to the GOP ("Help Me Fake It to the Right") and President Obama's class warfare ("If I Tax a Rich Man"). In addition, they offer their own take on such trending topics as Secret Service indiscretions and the European Union's money woes and what to do with Greece. No matter who or what is in the headlines, you can bet The Capitol Steps will tackle both sides of the political spectrum and all things equally foolish.

The Capitol Steps cast members at the Paramount are Mike Thornton, Matt Pearson, Evan Casey, Delores Williams and Tracey Stephens. The pianist is Howard Breitbart.

Thirty years ago, The Capitol Steps began as a group of Senate staffers who set out to satirize the very people and places that employed them. In the years that followed, many of the members ignored the conventional wisdom ("Don't quit your day job!"). Although not all of the current members of the The Capitol Steps are former Capitol Hill staffers, taken together the performers have worked in a total of 18 Congressional offices and represent 62 years of collective House and Senate staff experience.

Since they began, The Capitol Steps have recorded more than 32 albums, including their latest, Take the Money and Run for President!, and their special holiday release, Barackin' Around the Christmas Tree. They've been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC and PBS, and can be heard four times a year on National Public Radio stations nationwide during their Politics Takes a Holiday radio specials.

The Capitol Steps were born in December 1981, when some staffers for Senator Charles Percy were planning entertainment for a Christmas party. Ronald Reagan was President when the The Capitol Steps began, so co-founders Elaina Newport, Bill Strauss and Jim Aidala figured that if entertainers could become politicians, then politicians could become entertainers. They decided to dig into the headlines of the day, creating song parodies and skits that conveyed a special brand of satirical humor that was as popular in Peoria as it was on Pennsylvania Avenue.

About The Paramount Theatre

The Paramount Theatre is the center for performing arts, entertainment and arts education in Aurora, the second largest city in Illinois. Named "One of Chicago's Top 10 Attended Theatres" by the League of Chicago Theatres, the 1,888-seat Paramount Theatre, located in the heart of downtown Aurora at 23 E. Galena Blvd., is nationally renowned for the quality and caliber of its presentations, superb acoustics and historic beauty.

In Spring 2011, Paramount turned heads by appointing Chicago stage veteran Jim Corti as the company's first artistic director in 80 years, then self-producing its first-ever Broadway Series, presenting three-week runs of the popular musicals My Fair Lady, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor® Dreamcoat, A Chorus Line and Hair, each featuring Chicago's top professional directors, actors and designers. In less than a year, this new series attracted nearly 13,000 subscribers, with each production playing to rave reviews and wildly enthusiastic audiences. This season, the Broadway Series includes Grease (September 12 to October 7); Annie (November 21 to December 30); The Music Man (January 16 to February 3); and Fiddler on the Roof (March 6 to 24).

The Paramount Theatre opened on September 3, 1931. Designed by nationally renowned theater architects C.W. and George L. Rapp, the theater captures a unique Venetian setting portrayed in the art deco influence of the 1930s. The first air-conditioned building outside of Chicago, the Paramount offered the public a variety of entertainment, including "talking pictures", vaudeville, concerts and circus performances for more than 40 years.

In 1976, Aurora Civic Center Authority purchased the Paramount and closed the theater for restoration. The $1.5 million project restored the Paramount to its original grandeur. On April 29, 1978, the Paramount Arts Center opened, offering a variety of theatrical, musical, comedy, dance and family programming. In 2006, a 12,000-square-foot, two-story Grand Gallery lobby was added, with a new, state-of-the-art box office, cafe and art gallery.

Today, the Paramount Theatre continues to expand its artistic and institutional boundaries under the guidance of Executive Director Tim Rater, Artistic Director Jim Corti, a dedicated Board of Trustees and a devoted staff of live theater professionals.

The 2012-13 Paramount Theatre season is sponsored by The Beacon News and Naperville Sun. The 2012-13 Paramount Broadway Season is sponsored by BMO Harris. Grease is sponsored by Holiday Inn. This season is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

For more information, visit ParamountAurora.com.

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