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Baltimore Gay Paper
April 30, 1998
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"Magnificent, tantalizing, and hip with a psychedelic flair--a fine piece of work...3 STORIES TO THE GROUND abstractly explores the mysterious, tragic deaths of such music hall-of-famers as Billie, Janis, Jimi, Jim and Marvin. But [it] is more than a redone, rehashed, re-whatever run-of-the-mill story. It's better than that...3 STORIES TO THE GROUND is a uniquely done black, as in noir, drama about life from the bad, bad blues to the painful, painful purples of fame....It's eerie and murky but also daring and bold--filled with sexy, raunchy, smutty images and themes--definitely not for the faint of heart. It stirs the blood (and other body fluids) and gets the heart pumping (as well as other body parts). Catch this play."
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The Urbanite
May 1998 |
"Thought provoking and entertaining...a darkly humorous tragedy, the play mystically explores the death of art with a glib, sophisticated dialogue...Playwrights Shanks and Gantt mix a delightful cocktail of what happens when fate is combined with one part talent and equal measures fame and doubt. Sex, drugs, and jazz--The concoction can be hypnotic, especially under the effects of Damion Clark's seductive Mixologist...Shanks and Gantt should be credited here for not taking the easy way out. Instead, they use words and actions to vividly portray jazz's erotic nature."
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Aisle Say Internet Reviews
April 25, 1998
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"A highly complex and layered script that draws on several performance styles, this cast is impossible to appraise along conventional lines. Mr. Clark supplies a rhythmic force to the production, while his co-anchor Ms. Maddox adds a tone of considerable eroticism with her smoothly choreographed movement and intonation...it is in the atmospherics of timeless abandon and the metaphysical approach to character provided by writer/director Shanks that help to convey the pain of loss, that transmits in an almost Brechtian way....the Funkopolis ensemble comes out of the blocks in impressive style." |
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Baltimore Sun
April 26, 1998 |
"'3 Stories to the Ground' is a kind of theatrical jazz riff....The action takes place in a bar called the Deja Vu, presided over by a Mixologist, nimbly portrayed by Damion Clark, who has a shock of blue hair sprouting out of his otherwise shaved head. He and a seductive crony he calls the Siren (Shannon Maddox) serve as our guides, a pair of sprite-like creatures reminiscent of Puck and Titania of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'...Funkopolis shows promise in terms of style." |
