Event

Mr. Benny

Chicago actor Tim Newell returns to Clockwise Theatre in Waukegan in February for 12 performances in Mark Humphrey's play Mr. Benny, an affectionate one-man show tracing the career of Waukegan favorite son Jack Benny.

Mr. Benny is directed by Clockwise Theatre Artistic Director Bob Sanders. The three week run is being presented as a birthday celebration event for the iconic 20th Century comedian Jack Benny, who was born in Chicago on February 14, 1894.

The two-act comedy begins with Jack Benny in his Hollywood CBS Studios star dressing room on October 28, 1950, the night of his first television broadcast, and the beginning of Benny's successful 15-year run on television. Act 2 picks up the action 15 years later, on September 3rd, 1965, just after Benny was told of his show's cancelation in favor of the new crop of television comedies.

In between, Benny ruminates about his childhood in Waukegan, his Jewish parents and humble origin, the beginning of his show business career at Great Lakes Naval Base, Vaudeville, his radio career and the glory days of radio, performing quick scenes with the voices of such luminaries as Fred Allen, George Burns, Eddie Anderson, Don Wilson, Dennis Day, and even Marilyn Monroe.

The play shares inside stories like how he got his stage name (Benny was born Benjamin Kubelsky) and what Benny really felt about his famous feud with Fred Allen.

Featuring a sterling soundtrack of vintage radio and television shows, Mr. Benny features actor Tim Newell seamlessly interacting with the voices of the past for both comedic and sentimental effects.