Jason Kravits Archives - TheaterScene.net

Jason Kravits

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

February 5, 2026

Not quite as old as its title suggests, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" premiered off and then on Broadway in 2005. The Tony Award-winning musical wears that age well in a revival that director and choreographer Danny Mefford smartly doesn't exploit as an opportunity for stark reinvention. Yes, there are thoughtful updates, including a much-needed revision to one character's backstory and some pointed criticism of disturbing developments at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which launched the revival in October 2024. But, as always, the show's heart remains its six endearingly awkward middle-school spellers, each competing for a trophy that masks a much deeper and more elusive desire for connection. [more]

Sabbath’s Theater

November 13, 2023

Philip Roth’s 1995 Rabelaisian novel "Sabbath’s Theater" would seem a strange choice for stage adaptation both as it is considered Roth’s raunchiest – if not filthiest – book and it moves around a great deal to places in New England, New York, New Jersey and Venice, Italy. The stage adaptation by journalist Ariel Levy and actor-director John Turturro who also stars in The New Group’s production at the Pershing Square Signature Center is not really a play but a staged reading. Performed by Turturro and two actors, Elizabeth Marvel and Jason Kravits, taking all the other parts, this very doubling reinforces the feeling that this is not a fully realized play. [more]

The Golden Apple

May 13, 2017

Handsome musical theater leading man Ryan Silverman is a commanding Ulysses with his operatic singing. Jeff Blumenkrantz is marvelously humorous and pitiful as Menelaus, Helen’s jilted husband. N’Kenge is fierce and bewitching as Mother Hare, a soothsayer-like figure. Ashley Brown is wonderfully comic as the mayor’s wife. Though silent as Paris, the youthful Barton Cowperthwaite’s superior ballet skills make a great impression. [more]