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

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; It doesn&#8217;t qualify as one of the &#8220;performing arts,&#8221; but for participants, it&#8217;s once-in-a-lifetime theater.</p><p>The Kirby Center has spent most of its open hours hosting everything from &#8220;Oklahoma!&#8221; to Beethoven, Bennett to barbershop, and from a fake, big red dog to some very real cows.</p><p>Yet since 1987, the venue also has hosted an American ritual: graduation ceremonies. On that list are 50 high school events and three college commencements.</p><p>Along with the annual return of the robins, every spring morphs the Kirby into a posh palace for hundreds transitioning from stay-at-home teens to out-in-the-world adults.</p><p>&#8220;It seemed like more of an occasion than if it was in the gym,&#8221; Marcella Morgan said of her son Robert&#8217;s graduation ceremony in 2012. The Mountain Top clan came to the Wyoming Valley for his graduation from Holy Redeemer High School.</p><p>And going upscale in surroundings might subconsciously affect student behavior. Arline Mallis of Hanover Township suggested that the elegant decor of the Kirby has encouraged teens to be more formal.</p><p>&#8220;I liked it when they marched in,&#8221; she remembered of her son Michael&#8217;s graduation from Bishop Hoban High School in 1989. &#8220;Nobody was throwing their hats up into the air.&#8221;</p><p>The trappings certainly left an impression on Cecilia Galante &#8212; now a teacher at Wyoming Seminary &#8212; when she graduated from Bishop Hoban in 1989.</p><p>&#8220;I remember being enamored by the beautiful lights and all the red carpeting, and by how enormous the place seemed,&#8221; she said.</p><p>The fond recollections also include the most recent graduation season.</p><p>&#8220;I grew up admiring the beauty of the Kirby Center,&#8221; said 2016 Holy Redeemer salutatorian Alexis Davison. &#8220;There&#8217;s so much history and sense of community there.&#8221;</p><p>She recounted attending classic concerts and a Beach Boys performance at the Kirby before she got her chance on the stage to address classmates and their families.</p><p>&#8220;It was an extravagant and elegant place to end your high school career and start your adult life,&#8221; the Dallas resident added.</p><p>Of the 50 high school commencements held at the Kirby, Bishop Hoban held the most &#8212; 20 &#8212; from 1987 through 2007. Bishop O&#8217;Reilly was next with 16. In 2008, the Diocese of Scranton combined the two schools at the Hoban site and renamed it Holy Redeemer, which has held five commencements.</p><p>Wilkes-Barre Area&#8217;s Coughlin High School held nine graduations at the Kirby &#8212; the first in 1988, the second in 2002, and the third in 2006. Coughlin ceremonies have been held annually at the theater since 2011.</p><p>The Kirby added college commencements in 2014, when the Commonwealth Medical College held its first of three graduations there.</p><p>While the setting is grand, Mallis said Bishop Hoban&#8217;s 1989 ceremony was tight on access.</p><p>&#8220;It was hard to get a seat,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Mary Ruth Burke, whose children graduated from Holy Redeemer at the Kirby Center, said that may be true sometimes, but the Kirby generally is bigger than most high school auditoriums.</p><p>Burke graduated from Meyers High School in an auditorium highlighted with ample stained glass, including a ceiling with the seals of 48 states around the edges (the building predates the statehood of Alaska and Hawaii).</p><p>While it was great, she said, she suspects a venue such as the Kirby would have been better seating-wise.</p><p>Burke said they probably would have had to limit the guests in many high school auditoriums, including Holy Redeemer&#8217;s. The Kirby Center&#8217;s spaciousness likely meant &#8220;more family members could attend,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Asked about the three graduation ceremonies she attended for nieces and nephews leaving Holy Redeemer, Chris Bedwick of Plains Township said, &#8220;It was elegant.&#8221;</p><p>Yet when asked where her commencement was held, both Chris and her husband, George, beamed as they said together, &#8220;GAR!&#8221;</p><p>So was the Kirby Center better than GAR Memorial auditorium?</p><p>&#8220;Oh, no,&#8221; George blurted, unabashed. &#8220;Everything GAR was great!&#8221;</p><p>Like the others, Rachel Stilp Young&#8217;s Bishop Hoban class of 1992 recalled the elegance, and she voiced appreciation for air conditioning &#8212; not a given in many local, older schools.</p><p>But she did have one nit to pick.</p><p>&#8220;I remember it was long, and we wanted to get the heck out of there,&#8221; the Hanover Township resident said with a laugh.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Five sets of twins graduating from Holy Redeemer High School in 2013 pose for a photo at the F.M. Kirby Center before commencement. Pair-wise, from left: Comelia and Bethany Chmil, Louis and John Jablowski, John and Jacob Kozak, Ryan and Leanne Tabit, and Nick and Matt Kotulak. (Bill Tarutis / For Times Leader)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_Redeemer-twins-2013-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Five sets of twins graduating from Holy Redeemer High School in 2013 pose for a photo at the F.M. Kirby Center before commencement. Pair-wise, from left: Comelia and Bethany Chmil, Louis and John Jablowski, John and Jacob Kozak, Ryan and Leanne Tabit, and Nick and Matt Kotulak. (Bill Tarutis / For Times Leader)</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_Coughlin-grad-2012-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Members of the Coughlin High School Class of 2012 begin their graduation ceremony at the F.M. Kirby Center. Coughlin has held nine graduations at the theater. (Times Leader File Photo) </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_Coughlin-grad-2012-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Members of the Coughlin High School Class of 2012 begin their graduation ceremony at the F.M. Kirby Center. Coughlin has held nine graduations at the theater. (Times Leader File Photo) </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Pomp and circumstance also a part of Kirby history