Born in Paris in 1964, Jérôme Kaplan developed a passion early on his life for the plastic arts. He studied at the Ecole de la Rue Blanche, in the stage decoration department until 1987. After that he has been designing costumes and decor for a number of theatrical productions, including Rossini’s « Barber of Seville », Massenet’s « Don Quichotte », and Vivaldi’s « Montezuma », all three operas directed by Ariel Garcia Valdes. Jérôme Kaplan also designed costumes for « L’arche de Noé » by Benjamin Britten and « Journal d’un usager de l’espace » written by Georges Perec, with music by Didier Lockwood, both pieces directed by Charlotte Nessi and produced at the Bastille Opera.
Since 1991, he has created sets and costumes for the numerous ballets. With Jean-Christophe Maillot and les Ballets de Monte Carlo : « L’enfant et les Sortilèges », « Romeo and Juliet », « Cendrillon », « Casse-Noisette Circus » and « Œil pour Œil » ; with Robyn Orlin « Rock my tutu » for the Ballet de Nancy; with Zhang Yimou and Xin Peng Wang « Raise The Red Lantern » for the National Ballet of China ; with Bertrand d'At « The Prince of Pagodas » of B. Britten for Strasbourg Opera and « In the mood for love » for the Shanghai Ballet ; with Xin Peng Wang « The Wood Nymph » for the National Ballet of Finland - Helsinki and « Symphonie Classique » for the Dortmund Opera ; with Karine Saporta « les Guerriers de la brume », « Feu le music hall » and « Dans le regard de la nuit » for the Opera of Cairo ; with National Ballet of Korea - Seoul, Minku's « Don Quixotte » ; with David Nixon « Ondine » for Strasbourg Opera and « A sleeping beauty tale » for the Northern Ballet Theatre of Leeds - UK.
At the same time, he continues an opera and theatrical career. Recently, he has designed costumes for Bizet’s « Carmen Arabo-andalou » and Mozart's « L'enlèvement au sérail » directed by Olivier Desbordes and Britten's « The turn of the screw » directed by Sandrine Anglade for Angers Nantes Opera. For La Comédie-Française, Musset's « L'âne et le ruisseau » directed by Nicolas Lormeau. For the Théâtre national de Chaillot Hanif Kureishi’s « When the nigth begins » directed by Garance.