Waukegan's Barrison Theater, located next to the Carnigie Public Library on North Sherridan Road at Washington Street, was opened in 1907. Named after Mable Barrison, its owner. Her husband, Joe Howard, a well-known songwriter who wrote the 1914 hit "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now" was its manager for a time, as were Arthur Freudensfeld and Joseph Hopp.
While still going to Central High, Ben Kubelsky found employment at the Barrison, first as a Doorman and later as Property Man, until he was accepted as violinist in the orchestra pit.
In 1909, The Four Nightingales, now more popularly known as The Marx Brothers, played the Barrison and met the then sixteen year old Kubelsky. Minni Marx was so taken with the young violinist she offered him a position with the act. Fearing him too young to go travel the Vaudeville circuit, his parents said no to this proposition.
The Waukegan theatre war, where the competition between vaudeville houses was fierce, ended in January 1911 when Freudenfeld, Hopp and Maurice Eckles purchased the "Barrison". The theater was closed and the 543 seat "Waukegan" was renamed "The New Barrison" and the W.V.M.A. continued to provide acts. The New Barrison at 25 S. Genessee Street would be renamed "The Orpheum" in 1921 and later the "Rialto" in 1934. It closed in 1953. Both of these vaudeville houses have since been demolished, the site of the old "Barrison", next to the Carnegie Library has reverted to an empty lot, while a garden now is on the site of the "New Barrison
Working in the orchestra pit with Ben Kublelsky was pianist Cora Salisbury who had previously toured on the Vaudeville circuit with her own Rag Time compositions and "Pianologues". With the need to support herself and her mother, Cora Salisbury took on Kubelsky as a partner and formed the act "Salisbury and Kubelsky: From Grand Opera to Ragtime" and began touring the American mid-west until her mother's failing health ended the partnership. Benny would reform the act with pianist Lyman Woods and together they would play the Palace Theater in New York.
The 1799 seat Genesee Theater, built in 1927, operated until 1989. The City of Waukegan purchased it in 1999 and restored it and it is now the centerpiece of Jack Benny Plaza where a statue of Jack Benny can be found across the street, just a couple of blocks northwest of where Jack Benny's career began.
Circa 2008 North Sherridan Road at Washington Street. The library building still stands and the lot adjacent, where once stood the Barrison Theater is vacant.