hannh, I can assure you we weren't moving the couch through the main lobby.

hannah: just so you know I don't EVER eat at McDonalds!!!YUK!!! Maybe your budget can handle the fast food,

I wonder how the apartment residents that share the building with JPAC feel? My friend lived there for a number of years, and I know he put up with A LOT of extra noise and hallway traffic! To be fair, his apartment was close to the "dressing rooms" where the performers congregated. The shows with kids were the worst! Many Saturday mornings with "tiny dancers" laughing & screeching while running through the halls wearing tap shoes. With the cement floors and metal lockers, the sound really travels in there. He was often woken up, and I was there plenty of times when we had to turn up the TV to hear over the din. He never complained, but the week before he was going to move out for good, another friend and I were helping him move a couch. We opted to use the closest door instead of carrying the couch quite a bit further down the hall and having to walk up a flight of steps, only to have to walk down a flight of (slippery) stairs outside. This route would have also required us to cross a snow-covered lawn area in order to reach the parking lot. At any rate, the door we did choose led into the box office area where the JPAC attendees enter. There was a show scheduled for that afternoon, but we were there 45 minutes before the show (a kids singing production) was going to start. If we would have been in anyone's "way," it would have been for 3 minutes at the most, but one of the women running the show came out and started yelling at us. Her tone of voice and behavior towards us was totally rude and uncalled for! So much for live and let live. After years of putting up with the inconveniences associated with "sharing" the building, it turns out the sharing was one-sided.

Let me start by putting in my belated kudos for the production of West Side Story by the school district's summer drama program. It was one of the best shows I've ever seen mounted locally and everyone involved deserves heaps of praise.
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Pete, that is a great counterexample to your claim that only a "select few" benefit from the JPAC. In fact the student actors and crew come from all income levels and some I know personally are struggling along with everyone in Janesville. But the arts are a way for people to forget their troubles and JPAC is clearly a way that we can inexpensively entertain ourselves.
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It's ridiculous to complain about the fundraiser being too expensive. You're not going to see Tony Bennett for $5, and the high price of admission ultimately goes to support all the other programs that JPAC hosts. If you can't get over bitterness over a fundraiser from five years ago, you just may need therapy. Let it go. You and JPAC ... you didn't get along. You can go your separate ways and both lead happier, healthier lives.
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Unidentified: I did not regret leaving Janesville when I did. It's a small city, often small-minded and short-sighted (as examples in this thread show) and it will never be an artistic hub. We don't even have a full college like Beloit. But if anything JPAC is one of the reasons I like Janesville better now. It's stepping the artistic impulses in Rock County to a higher level and is clearly a net positive.
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But it's just silly to go back in time five years and say we shouldn't have done it then because of today's recession. In fact, it is exactly things like JPAC that help us maintain a quality of life that will attract future employers to our community. Investment is doubly important now and we are certainly getting our money's worth many times over.

The only performances I attend at JPAC are the Janesville Little Theater shows, and I'm not sure if their dropping the dinner format and moving to JPAC improved their attendance.
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I'd like to see JPAC host big-name comedians, something above the 2-drink-minimum level.

If you don't know what's going on at JPAC, then you aren't paying attention or don't want to know. There's stuff on the radio and in The Gazette all the time. You could also be proactive and check their web site. I have gone to several things there from free to more pricey. It's a wonderful venue of which we should be proud.

The Tony Bennett show was a one-time shot and it was a fundraiser. It's a shame that some people generalize from that one show that happened 5 years ago because it seems like every show at JPAC is between $10 and $20 or so. People forget that the vast majority of the shows at JPAC are produced by nonprofit arts groups in the community (Beloit Janesville Symphony, Janesville Little Theater, Spotlight on Kids, etc.) that can't spend thousands of dollars on advertising. That said, I don't agree that the shows at JPAC aren't promoted -- it seems to me JPAC and the groups that perform there promote the shows as much as they can and do a very good job of getting the word out. I know for sure that JPAC runs a weekly ad in the Kicks section of the Gazette to promote upcoming shows because I see it every week. I also know JPAC has a zipper sign in front of JPAC that is constantly flashing upcoming shows because I've driven by it. I know JPAC sends out monthly email messages to promote the next month's shows because I'm on that list -- and anyone who has an internet connection can also get on the list for free. I also see posters at various businesses around town promoting the shows and the user groups promote their shows in many different ways -- often with stories in the Gazette and on the radio. There aren't TV ads but those are really expensive. It's not fair to JPAC or the user groups for someone to come on here to call JPAC shows expensive when they aren't (especially when you think of what it costs to go to a live performance out of town) and then for the same person to say that JPAC doesn't do a good job promoting shows when they learn that JPAC is not expensive. If you haven't been paying attention, don't blame JPAC or the user groups -- just start paying attention! Good things are going on at JPAC and if you've been missing it, it's time to check it out and get down there!

Then maybe they should do a better job promoting themselves! I live in town, I don't frequent bars at all, I don't drink beer, and yes I have been known to have a burger, what is wrong with that? I do know however that I hear absolutely nothing on the radio, TV, Paper about what shows or events are going on at JPAC. Why should I have to actively look up the website all the time to see if they are playing something I may like? They need to get the word out, that is not the communities fault or job. For those who don't even know what JPAC is, how are they suppose to look them up?? If no one knows about them, then they have done a poor job promoting themselves. I have never been to the Fireside theater in Fort Atkinson, but I usually know what is being performed there because the bill boards and radio ads.

It seems like some of you are making judgements based on the price of one show - the big Tony Bennett fundraiser the first weekend. The fact is, many of the shows are in the $10-15 range (including the one today, which is $10) but the very first show the night before Tony Bennett was only $5 and totally sold out. So you folks really need to get your facts straight before blurting out that it's only for people with money.

JPAC is great venue with great sound and a striking visual image. I'm not sure if people understand that JPAC is just a venue, not a production company. If there is a concern over ticket prices or type of show contact the production company such as Spotlight on Kids, Janesville Presents, Janesville Little theater...etc.

I have attended a couple of programs at JPAC and had a wonderful time-the place is beautiful and the sound system is great. Although I can't afford to go as often as I might like, it is a really nice venue for a treat once in awhile.

A little high end C&W would be great.

There should be varying levels of the arts. In this case JPAC caters to a crowd that has more money. However, that is not to say JPAC couldn't be a once a year treat for anyone who gainfully employed. I know people who spend more than JPAC at the bar on the weekends. Part of the problem is a lack of support. I've attended many of the free events only to see a hundred people show up. The farmers market, though much improved, still lacks the type of support a city of 60,000 should have. Right now Janeville boils down to the three B's; Beers, Bars, and Burgers.

I thought the first show there was Tony Bennett. And as I remember prices were astronomical.

Sounds like it is only $1 more than the hockey game down the road.

First of all - A big thank you to PROARTIST that mentioned the website rockcountyarts.com I did not know that this site existed and I'm positive it will be very helpful. I think some of the prices for JPAC have been high, but overall they seem pretty good. I have not seen a show yet, but others have told me positive things.

I still don't think anyone but those with money can afford to go to most shows. We are a community with no jobs and the city is broke, but hey lets make sure we have the arts that the average person cannot afford to attend tho!!!!

JPAC is a nice intimate venue for audiences to see a variety of arts, and many are $10 tickets, really the same as a movie! As for diversity - checkout itsnotyouitsme on 9/26 -- like nothing you've heard before!

Seriously? First off it would help if you created a website that was easier to read or eliminate the two tone background. I can do some web work for you if you need help. Second off, Janesville is the least culturally and artistically diverse place I've ever lived or visited. Only a local could think otherwise. I applaud everyone's efforts including yours. Indeed Janesville has improved greatly over the last few years. However, I stand by my previous statement 100%.

Diversify culture and arts? Check out all the diversity at www.rockcountyarts.com where many FREE events are on the calendar and then come visit the Janesville Farmer's Market on Saturday, September 12 when a new United Arts Alliance busker (street performer) joins our regular line-up demonstrating his spray-can paint creations!

The opening show at JPAC was "Janesville in Stages" written by Jim Lyke and cost $5 per ticket. I believe it will be shown on JATV this weekend. SpotLight on Kids does at least one show per year where you "pay what you can" at the door. Other users present multiple events every year at a variety of prices. The show this Sunday is the same band doing Saturday night and tickets cost $10.

At the time it wasn't a bad move. In today's economy I'd say someone would have to be nuts. Janesville has to diversify culture and arts in order to attract people and businesses to the area. Nobody wants to live in Vanillaville. That includes corporate level executives, doctors, lawyers etc.. When the city has the money, investing in things like JPAC or even a children's museum are good ideas. However, right now we're broke and jobless.

If the prices of the opening show was any indication, I will never see the inside of the building.