F. M. Kirby Center

Great Place to take in a show, concert or event.

I’ve been enjoying my visits to the F.M. Kirby Center for years and most recently attended the Josh Ritter acoustic concert. The show was presented as part of the Chandelier Series and a temporary stage and tables were installed in the lobby. I enjoyed the concert; Mr. Ritter performed an entertaining and energetic set, once again proving himself to be the most talented singer/​songwriter of his generation. Based on the enthusiastic audience response it was quite clear that Josh Ritter will soon be called upon to play the main stage proper.
I have seen many acts perform at the F.M. Kirby Center including Elvis Costello, Bill Maher, and Asia — it is a great venue to see a musician or comedian. The Kirby’s upcoming schedule is always worth checking out and typically offers much better events than either the Scranton Cultural Center or Mohegan Sun Arena.
I would not recommend seeing a movie at the Kirby Center until they hire better projectionists. I once attended Rain Johnson’s «The Brothers Bloom» and the reels were projected out of order. During a screening of the Bob Dylan documentary «Don’t Look Back» the audio and video were unsynchronized. A recent showing of «2001: A Space Odyssey» was displayed off a standard DVD and the poor resolution was quite noticeable when projected on the big screen. If the Kirby continues to project DVD copies of classic movies I hope they will invest in a Blu-​Ray player.

Located within Wilkes-​Barre, the F. M. Kirby Center is not a hard to location to find, just look for the marquee. Ample parking is available at several garages around the center, at decent prices. Location has an older, classy theater look, much nicer than the Mohegan Sun Arena. Saw Ron White and had tickets for the balcony, view was decent. Seating was decently comfortable with enough room for a larger person like me. Audio system within the center is decent. Concessions seemed very basic but were serving liquor at the event I attended at the usual event prices. Only worry I could see is I’m not sure how handicap accessible the location is due to the design, I would call ahead and check if this is a concern.

Really nice theater and right downtown. I wish they did more movie nights!

Very nice venue. The staff were friendly and helpful. All seats are pretty close no matter where you are. Acoustics are also great in this place. Saw Bob Weir here on the day of my birthday and was my best concert to date!!!

I’ve only been to a few things at the Kirby Center throughout my life including when I danced there, but the theater is beautiful. It’s one of the nicest I’ve been in.

i’ve been here a few times in the past few years for shows. the seating i found was a tad uncomfortable, concession lines moved very slow … however, excellent performances at reasonable prices.