Jack Benny Center in Waukegan announces its upcoming season
This September, the Jack Benny Center for the Arts is celebrating 30 years of being part of the Waukegan Park District. It recently announced its 2014-15 Performing Arts season.
Bowen Park Theatre Company opens its 27th season Friday, Sept. 26, by staging "The Gin Game." Other shows include "Of Mice and Men" in February and "More Fun Than Bowling" in April.
In addition to the two plays performed each year, the Jack Benny Center for the Arts' artistic and technical theater friends are providing "Of Mice and Men" as a bonus show.
The Bowen Park Theatre opens "The Gin Game" at the Dr. Lynn Schornick Theatre with an 8 p.m. curtain Friday, Sept. 26. The show will run until Sunday, Oct. 12, with a 3 p.m. matinee performance.
Season tickets for the three plays may be purchased at the Jack Benny Center for the Arts, 39 Jack Benny Drive, Waukegan. The season ticket package is $40 for adults, $30 for seniors and military and $20 for student tickets with ID.
The Waukegan Symphony Orchestra celebrated its 40th anniversary this past April and will open the music season Oct. 19 with "Greetings From Prague" at Waukegan High School's Brookside Campus-Trapp Auditorium, 2325 Brookside Ave., Waukegan.
The Waukegan Concert Chorus performances are at the First Presbyterian Church of Waukegan, 122 N. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave. in downtown Waukegan. The Concert Chorus will begin its season with "Renaissance Music" Nov. 2.
All regular WSOCC concerts are Sundays at 4 p.m. The chorus will end its performance season Sunday, March 22, 2015, with a concert titled "Spain, Bartok, and Brahms," and will feature music by Spanish composers, Slavic and Gypsy Folk songs. The orchestra ends its season with a "Beethoven Bash" April 12, 2015, that will conclude with the 130-voice DePaul Community Chorus and Beethoven's Mass in C.
Special concerts round out the remainder of the WSOCC season and include the Ninth Annual Joseph A. Favero Memorial "Do It Yourself" Messiah and Carol Singalong at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, at the First United Methodist Church of Waukegan, 128 N. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave.
At 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 22, 2015, Waukegan Symphony will present a Young People's Concert at the Trapp Auditorium, with free admission for ages 18 and younger and a $5 reduced-price ticket for adults.
This concert has become a family favorite and gives the audience members an opportunity to meet the musicians onstage and learn more about their instruments.
Season tickets for WSOCC and the six concerts are $65 for adults, $49 for seniors and military, $36 for students 19 and older, and free for students 18 and younger. All performing arts programs ask that children 12 and younger be accompanied by an adult.
The Waukegan Symphony Orchestra and Concert Chorus, Bowen Park Theatre Company and the multidisciplinary programming of the Jack Benny Center for the Arts is partially funded through a grant provided by the Illinois Arts Council, a state of Illinois agency.
To learn more about the performing arts season, cultural arts programming, questions on auditions and to order season tickets for the Bowen Park Theatre or the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra and Concert Chorus, call the Jack Benny Center for the Arts at (847) 360-4740 or stop by the Center in Bowen Park, 39 Jack Benny Drive, Waukegan.