The Comedy of Errors
“Jonathan C. Kaplan, as Antipholus of Syracuse, has his comic timing down pat.”
CurtainUp – Deirdre Donovan
“…the actors bring admirable clarity to the language, especially Jonathan C. Kaplan as Antipholus of Syracuse…”
Backstage – Ron Cohen
“Just as they physically match, the two Antipholuses follow a similar psychological path through amusement, befuddlement, and outright exasperation at the inexplicable events. Jonathan C. Kaplan, playing Antipholus of Syracuse, projects charmed confusion when pondering a world where every stranger seems to know him, random persons give him gifts, and a woman claiming to be his wife insists on taking him home.”
Examiner – Brad Richason
Betrayal
“The Hangar production does have certain strengths: clarity in the storytelling, articulate speech…Moreover, Dann and her actors play strongly into the comic moments: these moments (light and dry) often shine, as the actors allow themselves to just play the lines and not “emote” between, beneath and all around the text.Many of these moments revolve around Jonathan C. Kaplan’s nicely modulated performance as the sardonic Robert. As the observer and self-proclaimed “fool” to the affair, Robert is gifted with the lion’s share of savage wit, which Kaplan wields with laser-precision, sometimes bemused and puzzled, sometimes seething beneath a steely smile, but always alive to the shifting currents of the moment. His anguish in the revelation scene with Emma are particularly powerful.”
Tompkins Weekly
Summer Shorts 2: Series B
“Terrence McNally is the ringer in “Summer Shorts 2: Series B,” a
second evening of one-act plays. His “Plaisir D’Amour,” starring Tony
nominees Stephanie D’Abruzzo (“Avenue Q”) and Jonathan C. Kaplan
(“Falsettos”), is the undisputed highlight of an uneven program.This
chamber musical begins with a couple’s awkward meeting at a lieder
recital – he likes her breasts, she’s attracted by his ears – and
proceeds from there to infidelities and disillusionment. Alternately
raucous and rueful, the beautifully acted piece (with a lovely score
by Skip Kennon) comes to a gently heartwarming conclusion.”NY POST – Frank Scheck
“The only real variant in the play collection is Terrence McNally and
Skip Kennon’s musical Plaisir D’Amour. This bittersweet piece centers
on Sam (Jonathan C. Kaplan) and Ruth (Stephanie D’Abruzzo), who fall
head-over-heels in love at a Carnegie Hall lieder recital and get
married. Thirty years pass as the story takes a scathingly realistic
look at their marriage and family life. We see the wild aspirations of
youth slowly give way to the practicalities of middle-age. To be sure,
this work isn’t McNally at his wittiest, or most creative but as
directed by Elizabeth Lucas, the musical (with the classic French song
“Plaisir D’Amour”"peppered into certain scenes) proves to be pertinent
to our own lives, and soars with the sublime acting of its two
principals. ”Curtain Up – Deirdre Donovan
“Plaisir is a bittersweet piece about a boy (Sam) and a girl (Ruth)
who fall instantly in love and take us along on their life’s thirty
year journey. It’s relevant, at least to those who look at life
realistically through grey colored glasses, and it was beautifully
performed by Jonathan C. Kaplan and Stephanie D’Abbruzo.”DC Theater Scene – Richard Seff
“Plaisirs d’Amour, which takes its cue from the traditional French
ditty but doesn’t reprise it, begins with early-stage love pleasures
and advances and moves on to the inevitable disillusioning phases that
McNally obviously believes speedily follow. Ruth (Stephanie D’Abruzzo)
and Sam (Jonathan C. Kaplan) meet cute at a recital where a soprano
(Rita Harvey in the first of several roles) is holding forth on love’s
vagaries. Thereafter, the couple marries, raise children, indulge
infidelities and, years later, reach a convincingly realistic
conclusion about their relationship. The piece will strike some
inveterate theater fans as a variation on Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble
in Tahiti, but McNally and Kennon’s lovely melodies and deft lyrics
make the enterprise decidedly appealing, as do the accomplished
actor-singers (who also include Neal Mayer in a range of supporting
roles).”TheaterMania – David Finkle
“Thank God for the law of averages. 59E59′s “Summer Shorts 2″ might
merely be a swamp of lousy direction and poorly edited writing were it
not for Terrence McNally and Skip Kennon’s lovely little musical
comedy “Plaisir D’Amour,” which makes excellent use of “Avenue Q” vet
Stephanie D’Abruzzo as Ruth and Jonathan C. Kaplan as her partner Sam.
It feels odd to call a 30-minute show an extravaganza, but that’s the
most fitting word. The rest of the series wavers between the mediocre
and the amusing; there are bright spots but there are really dim
patches too…But the prize goes, no contest, to “Plaisir D’Amour,”
mostly because of the amazing synchronization of all its disparate
elements. It’s not any one song that makes the brief show (really a
mini-opera) such a treat. It’s lyrics like Sam’s internal “Go up and
chat with her; be charming and be chipper,” while Ruth thinks “He
could just be a lieder-loving Jack the Ripper” underneath the strains
of the singer (Rita Harvey) they’re both pretending to listen to,
crooning in French about the pleasures of love. Sam finally overcomes
his shyness, by the way, with a gentlemanly “You have great tits.”Variety – Sam Thielman
“As for Plaisir D’Amour, it’s the most polished of the eight plays,
with outstanding performances from Stephanie D’Abruzzo and Jonathan C.
Kaplan as they chronicle a relationship from the desperate single life
to the troubled married life and eventually, with their own children
now married, to the comfortable afterglow of a once passionate life.
Far too many one-acts, even decent ones, come across as ultimately
empty etudes, but this musically simplistic piece does for a transient
comedy what Prelude & Liebestod did for drama.”New Theater Corps – Aaron Riccio
These Shining Lives
” the actors are good: Roberts and Jonathan C. Kaplan play Catherine
and Tom with sex appeal and a pioneering sense of equality”Washington Post – Nelson Pressley
“Tom, Catherine’s husband, so perfect he makes Mother Teresa pale in
comparison. Rugged and handsome (looks stunning in an undershirt), he
cooks, cleans, and appears to be the perfect romantic lover…Jonathan
C. Kaplan (A Little Night Music) is a warm, macho guy with a great
heart.”Broadway World – James Howard
“Jonathan C. Kaplan is the incarnation of female fantasies: he looks
great in a muscle shirt; he cooks and cleans; and he worships his wife.”Baltimore Sun – Mary McCauley
A Little Night Music
“Mattie Hawkinson, Jonathan C. Kaplan, Sarah Uriarte Berry and Kate
Baldwin all give assured perfs.”Variety – Mike Giuliano
“Theater World Award-winner Kaplan brings a masculine sexiness and a
dignified austerity to his role as Frid, the butler.”Broadwayworld.com
Take Me Out
“But the night belongs to Jonathan C. Kaplan, who plays the self-acknowledged ‘smartest man in baseball,’ Kippy Sunderstrom. Kaplan takes the weight of the production onto his shoulders and swaggers around the stage as if the burden were no heavier than his jersey.”
Offoffonline.com – Timothy Dayton Young
“As Kippy Sunderstrom, Darren’s best friend on the team, Jonathan C. Kaplan is similarly excellent…he’s grown into a fine young actor with a warm, intelligent, ebullient presence that’s just right for this character.”
NYTheatre.com – Martin Denton
“Jonathan C. Kaplan is Kippy. Trustworthy from the start, he makes his startlingly articulate character seem grounded and natural.”
Brooklyn Eagle – Beth C. Aplin
The Graduate
“The surprise of the show is Jonathan C. Kaplan, who gives Benjamin a sincerity and innocence that never feel forced… Kaplan manages to take Benjamin from frustrated and confused to determined and committed. He has such an eager grin and a terrific sense of timing, he makes Benjamin sympathetic.”
The Boston Herald – Terry Bryne
Anne Frank
“Jonathan Kaplan a quiet standout as the hunch-shouldered, parentally mortified Peter Van Daan, whose tongue-tied hostility toward Anne turns to awkward, innocent, sex-sparked companionship.”
The Boston Phoenix – Carolyn Clay
“Her romance with the more introverted Peter Van Daan (sensitively portrayed Jonathan Kaplan) nicely adds a romantic touch with which a young ’90s audience can identify.”
Curtain Up
Falsettos
“Jonathan Kaplan, a very young Woody Allen with a big singing voice, is a sublime Jason.”
The New York Times – Frank Rich