From lyricist Mark Eaton, one of the team behind the long-running political satirical musical comedy revue Capitol Steps, comes DC’s Reflecting Fools, a similarly themed song–and-dance focusing on the madness of our current political landscape. This touring production can be caught at the Kravis Center For The Performing Arts until this November 6th, making it a timely pick ahead of midterm elections (and by the way, this is your reminder to go vote ASAP if you haven’t turned in your ballot!)
While you probably won’t come away with any great insight from this light-hearted look at a few of the most mockable figures in current politics (our past two commanders in chief foremost among them), you are likely to find more than a few laughs as you behold the clever politically minded makeovers the group gives to various classic pop culture tunes.
Just to name a few, instead of summoning “Mr. Sandman,” two staffers reflect on “Dr. Fauci”‘s handling of the coronavirus pandemic; and in a take on McCartney and Wonder’s “Ebony And Ivory,” Joe Biden and Kamala Harris instead reflect on the fact that their blend of “Elderly and Ovaries” makes them the perfect pair. An overpriced gas pump contemplates what kind of fuel he is and a bill’s journey to Capitol Hill is interrupted by a blustering and filibustering Mitch McConnell.
DC’s Reflecting Fools – Trump, Schumer, Pelosi at the Kravis Center
Though serious issues of racism and climate change are at least evoked by numbers like a revamp of “It’s Not Easy Being Green,” in which the singers instead respectively bemoan the cons of being white, a woman, or black, or in a slapstick sendup of “We Are The World” delivered by caricatured versions of Greta Thunberg, Neil Degrasse Tyson, John Kerry, and Bob Dylan, it’s all less hard hitting humor than jabs at the usual targets that are mostly mild enough to appeal to viewers on both sides of the political aisle.
In fact, a few numbers that stood out as particularly hilarious were less about politics in particular than about topics like the inevitable indignities of aging or the abundance of pharmaceuticals it took one woman to get through the day. Though plenty of what these Reflecting Fools have to bring is cheesy, their shtick is indeed pretty dependably amusing, meaning that the show is a consistent pleasure for anyone with a sufficient appetite for silliness.
DC’s Reflecting Fools – “What Kind of Fuel Am I?” at the Kravis Center
A troupe of performers including Jon Bell, Evan Casey, Kevin Corbett, Nancy Dolliver, Emily Levey, and Jack Rowles transforms into the show’s multitudes of characters, donning wigs to change identities that are as amusingly over-the-top as the rest of the proceedings. Since the program didn’t specify who plays who, it’s somewhat difficult to name standouts. However, though everyone did a respectable job, whoever was tasked with delivering the lengthy monologue in spoonerisms that ended Act 1 displayed a remarkable ability to keep a straight face and project charisma as he spoke about the horrors of the Tronald Dump administration while flipping every other word.
DC’s Reflecting Fools -Biden, Pelosi, Schumer at the Kravis Center
