From I-90 Northbound (From Rockford/Chicago):
Take the Rockton Road exit located immediately after the toll plaza. Turn left onto Rockton Road. Continue several miles (you will go under the 251 bridge and later cross US Route 2) until you reach Salem Street at a 4-way stop. Make a left at this stop. One parking lot entrance will be to your left at the end of the building. The main parking lot entrance is accessible after you reach the end of Salem Street at the T intersection, turn left and then make another quick left into the main entrance.

From I-90 Southbound (From Wisconsin):
Take the Rockton Road exit located just before the toll plaza. Turn right onto Rockton Road. Continue several miles (you will go under the 251 bridge and later cross US Route 2) until you reach Salem Street at a 4-way stop. Make a left at this stop. One parking lot entrance will be to your left at the end of the building. The main parking lot entrance is accessible after you reach the end of Salem at the T intersection, turn left and then make another quick left into the main entrance.

Click here to download our full seating chart!

The HCHS PAC seating area is divided into to main sections, the house and the balcony,  below is an image that depicts the overlap of these two sections seen at a side view.

Brief Overview
For our 2017-2018 season the Hononegah Performing Arts Center hosted over 650 scheduled activities-- an average of more than one for every day of the calendar year! We are an extremely busy facility but outside rentals are invited based upon availability. Please understand the Hononegah Performing Arts Center's primary focus is on meeting the demands of Hononegah High School, and is not a straight "road house". This means when an outside renter comes in, it creates an extra strain on the District, pulling resources and personnel from their regular assigned duties, and creating new work that is specific to the event itself such as meeting all the requests and demands of the renter. As such, items such as management, technical setups, and custodial are performed while in overtime to work your event as the District does not employ a "dedicated staff" whose position it is to solely cater to outside rentals.

With that being said, the PAC is one of the most affordable facilities in the region while providing the best experience on stage, backstage, and in the audience. The PAC is an 1,100 seat, recently constructed, state-of-the-art fully-equipped venue which provides an outside renter powerful leverage to produce an outstanding production without having to look elsewhere. Need 5 entire electrics of lighting instruments pre-loaded, including FOH positions, all controlled by an in-house ETC Element? Need 10 Shure ULX Series wireless beltpacks with lapel mics, a Bose Commercial Panaray sound system with a few thousand watts of JBL subwoofer power, not to mention a 32-channel Allen & Heath console to mix? Need a venue that is centrally located between Chicago, Rockford, Madison, Beloit, easily found right off I-90 and has ample parking? We have all of this on-site. If it sounds like we have too much, you are always welcome to bring your own equipment and we won't charge you for what you don't use. Also, unlike other facilities, we feature:

• Per-Hour Rate Schedule - Not per-day or 4-hour minimum blocks
• House Manager Only - Is the only minimum required personnel while on-site
• No Parking Fees
• No Box Office Fees
• No Merchandising Fees
• No Concession Buyout Fees

Empowering Renters
For renters, our facility is a gold mine to you. Even with the minimum suggested ticket price of just $8, filling only half the main floor and showing a single performance, our venue can bring your production company thousands in gross ticket revenue. For the more strategic production company/promoter who may opt for a more traditional "three performance weekend" and a slightly higher ticket price, they will see nothing short of 5-figure revenues and even the capacity to reach 6-figure revenues if successful--not bad for 3 days' work.

Rental Packet
The Rental Packet includes terms, conditions, and prices for renting the Hononegah Performing Arts Center and is available by calling the PAC Theater Manager at 815-624-2070 x5092 or e-mailing a request to EMAIL LINK HERE

Before placing your call to rent the Hononegah PAC, we ask that you do two things:

First, check the online calendar by clicking "PAC Calendar" to check the dates and availability of the facility for the times you are interested in. (Please note that due to logistic and coordinating with previous/upcoming event reasons that an open date on the calendar does not necessarily guarantee availability - the Director of Operations will determine if your event is feasible for the dates and times requested with respect to currently scheduled events and personnel availability.)

Second, thoroughly review a copy of the Rental Packet which features rental prices, terms, and conditions. This should answer a significant number of general questions, and create new, specific ones.

Please note that Hononegah does not offer "residency rentals" or multi-year agreements. Residency rentals is where we rent our facilities out on a reoccurring weekly basis, i.e. "We would like every Tuesday evening for a year". We do not offer long-term on-site storage, and we do not schedule farther out than 1 year at a time. Generally our renters book 1-2 days at a time per year, or at most 1 full week for a larger production per year.

When are upcoming shows?
For a more detailed list of all scheduled activities utilizing the facility, click on the "PAC Calendar" link on our main website at http://www.hononegah.org/pac for the most current information. The second best way is to call and listen to our Box Office Hotline at 815-624-5006, although this will not be updated as frequently as the website calendar.

Q: How do I buy tickets?
A: Hononegah does NOT directly sell tickets for any shows performed at our facility except for the high school's Fall Play and Spring Musical. Buying or reserving tickets for any other performances which take place at our facility must be conducted directly through the respective organization producing the event.

Usually contact information for buying tickets will be found on our main page at http://www.hononegah.org/pac or by pre-recorded message on our Box Office Hotline at 815-624-5006.

PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE MAIN Hononegah High School line, its operator, or principal's office for PAC event information or ticket inquiries as you will be redirected to this website or the Box Office Hotline.

Q: Lost and Found: Who do I call?
A: To inquire about the possible recovery of a lost, forgotten, or unattended item, please call the Hononegah PAC Director of Operations at 815-624-2070 Extension 5092. This number should only be used for questions regarding facilities management and operations questions regarding the facility itself.

Calls regarding ticket sales, upcoming productions, etc., will be redirected to the Box Office Hotline or this website.

Q: I am thinking about renting the PAC. What do I do?
A: Please click on the "Rent the PAC" link above for more information on this topic.

Q: How many people does the theater sit?
A: 1,100 total: 800 on the main floor and 300 in the balcony. Sometimes seats are removed to accommodate production requirements so if you need a specific, current count please contact Management. A detailed seating chart is also available by clicking on the "Seating Chart" link above.

Q: When and how was the theater built?
A: During the 1994-95 school year local taxpayers voted on a referendum to build a new annex to Hononegah. The proposed wing included state-of-the art biology classrooms, a new library the size of five classrooms, two new department offices, a computer-filled math lab, improved choir and band rooms, and a new theater for the school to gather comfortably in. The referendum passed and in February 1996 students began using the new building, unofficially known as the "95 Addition".

Q: Can you dim the houselights for me from the control booth at the beginning of a show?
A: Every light bulb that can be remotely controlled as allowed by fire code- is! Through a computerized lighting system by Strand & Electronic Theatre Controls, various scenes/cues for a show can be programmed or scenes can be adjusted on the fly through a sophisticated lighting control board. All stage lighting use professional lights with interchangeable gels. We have many specialty lights for doing special effects including gobos. We can even control third-party lights such as on stage prop lighting from the control room.

Q: Can you lower any of the curtains from the control booth?
A: No. All curtains are manually raised or lowered from the ropes that line the stage right wall. It is quite rare to have a remote controlled rigging system. For instance, the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, CA where the Academy Awards® are held and arguably one of the greatest theaters in the country from a standpoint of technical capacity, is also entirely manually controlled.

Q: I noticed downstage the floor is significantly different than from the rest of the stage, why is that?
A: The edge of the stage closest to the audience is actually a removable orchestra pit cover. Risers fill this area when the pit is not in use to enlarge the stage surface.

Q: I need to talk to the stage manager from the control booth, are there any communications between the stage and booth?
A: The theater has a modular two-channel intercom system by Clear-Com. Headsets can be plugged in at any of the various intercom plug-ins located throughout the facility. These include behind stage, in the orchestra pit, in the balcony, on the catwalk, in the audience, behind stage, in the choir room, and in the dressing rooms.

Q: What type of curtains onstage are available?
A: All the curtains you would expect at a professional theater. These include numerous black leg curtains, a Mid and Rear traveler, a light blue cyclorama, a large movie screen, and arear projection Screen.