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Pomp and circumstance also a part of Kirby history

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Videos on Kirby Center performers over the years

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; It was 1979, and three 16-year-old girls were running from their warm car to the Paramount Theater, where they again would be shielded from the bitter cold. Their first time at a concert without parental supervision, they swayed as the music of Harry Chapin flowed over them.</p><p>&#8220;It was a magical night,&#8221; Nancy Volz, now 53, said about one of the highlights of her youth.</p><p>It was Volz&#8217;s first show at the Paramount, but it wasn&#8217;t her last at the venue that has carried the Kirby Center name since 1986. Volz, a Wilkes-Barre resident, said she has gone back countless times since, enjoying plays, concerts and shows. One that stood out was Whoopi Goldberg in 2001, as Volz recalled standing in the rain, pounding on the star&#8217;s tour bus until she gave her an autograph.</p><p>But Volz&#8217;s favorite memory was of Chapin. She laughed as she recalled her outfit of the night: a blue T-shirt with a banana on it, in honor of his song &#8220;30,000 Pounds of Bananas.&#8221; He signed that T-shirt, but it was far from her best gift of the night.</p><p>After waiting in line for an autograph and meet-and-greet, she received a kiss on the cheek.</p><p>&#8220;A man before his time,&#8221; as Volz described him, Chapin seemed to never really see himself as a performer, but rather &#8220;a big brother&#8221; who did a great deal of charity work.</p><p>Volz spoke of the impressive acoustics and beautiful atmosphere at the theater, but credits its longevity to a much less concrete characteristic.</p><p>It&#8217;s about the way you feel when you walk in the Kirby Center.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s like you&#8217;re going home. &#8230; It&#8217;s like you&#8217;re being hugged by an old family member,&#8221; she said.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_Harry-Chapin.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Harry Chapin performs in 1980 at an unspecified location, one year after Volz attended his concert at the Paramount to start her string of several shows she would see at the venue that would become the Kirby Center.</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_Harry-Chapin.jpg</photo0><caption0>Harry Chapin performs in 1980 at an unspecified location, one year after Volz attended his concert at the Paramount to start her string of several shows she would see at the venue that would become the Kirby Center.</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_1979.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">From 1979, the ticket stub from the Harry Chapin concert at the Paramount, along with pictures of 16-year-old friends Nancy Volz, center, Susan Siegel, left, and Ginny Taney. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_1979.jpg</photo1><caption1>From 1979, the ticket stub from the Harry Chapin concert at the Paramount, along with pictures of 16-year-old friends Nancy Volz, center, Susan Siegel, left, and Ginny Taney. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Alyssa Mursch</p><p>For the Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div>

Musician Harry Chapin ‘magical’ for fans in theater’s Paramount days