When Elaina Newport and several other staffers in Sen. Charles Percy’s office decided to spice up their 1981 Christmas party with some choice political parodies, they could not have known where it would lead. Thirty years later, the hardy troupe of current and ex-staffers known as the Capitol Steps boasts a discography of 36 albums. “Take the Money and Run — for President,” the group’s latest release, will be the cornerstone of a Hylton Center show guaranteed to send the audience home in stitches, no matter their political persuasion.

Armed with musical and comedic aptitude, the Alexandria-based company strews mischief wherever Democrats, Republicans and independents congregate. The pool of 31 members, all based in the Washington area, are often on planes that pass in the night as they spread their wit from coast to coast. Each troupe operates in groups of six, five singer/actors who impersonate dozens of politicians in the course of a single evening and a pianist unperturbed by the parade of characters rapidly passing across the stage. Flushed with so many versatile members, they can perform in four different locales on a single day.