Madison Chock and Evan Bates perform during the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis, Missouri.
Submitted Photo
You know the old lament —so old it’s a trope, a teen movie cliche, a stereotype.
“There’s nothing to do here. As soon as I’m old enough, I’m outta here, and I’m never coming back.”
Aside from the way such sentiment devalues family and community connections in our formative years, it’s often untrue. There are nearly countless stories in our region of people who stayed here and helped make the area a better place in their lives and beyond. There are many sagas about people who went off to make their fortunes and decided to either return in triumphal retirement or to invest the wealth made elsewhere in their hometowns, childhood education institutions, or local non-profit causes.
No one would try to sell Luzerne County as an entertainment titan, cultural mecca, culinary capital or even a natural wonderland. But we have our own impressive versions of all those lures and more. You rarely have to travel very far to find something that will please your personal tastes. And more often than many might realize, we get top-shelf — even world-class — acts stopping by.
Take this week’s announcement of the “Stars on Ice Tour” coming to Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza on April 24. Just days after the Olympic torch in Italy went dark, we learned some of the most successful U.S. figure skaters in those games will be in the cast.
Headlining the show: Olympic Champion and Olympic Team Gold Medalist, reigning World Champion, and two-time U.S. Champion Alysa Liu.
Joining her are Madison Chock and Evan Bates, with an equally impressive list of accomplishments: Olympic team gold and Ice Dance silver medalists, three-time reigning world champions, and seven-time reigning U.S. champions.
And then there is one of the biggest sensations of the 2026 winter Olympics, who, aside from one unfortunate performance, looked nearly superhuman: Olympic team gold medalist, reigning two-time world champion, and reigning four-time U.S. champion Ilia Malinin.
But, as the old commercials said, wait, there’s more: Olympic team gold medalist and reigning three-time U.S. champion Amber Glenn; Olympic team gold medalists and U.S. champions Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea; Olympian, world silver medalist and U.S. champion Isabeau Levito; and Olympic team bronze medalist and U.S. champion Jason Brown, with more skaters to be announced.
Having big names pop into our area is not uncommon. The Arena once hosted a rare reunion of Simon and Garfunkel. It has welcomed Bob Dylan, Barry Manilow, Elton John, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Cher, the Backstreet Boys, Michael Bublé, Kevin Hart, Jeff Dunham, and Cirque du Soleil, to name a few.
The F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts has an equally long list of famous acts in its history, including Johnny Mathis, Lyle Lovett, The Righteous Brothers, and Tony Bennett.
We get touring shows, concerts in many genres, comedians, dancers, and much more in our turf, and even more just miles beyond the county boundary (think Broadway in Scranton).
So while we welcome the Olympic stars coming to the arena, we hold them out not just as something you should consider seeing (starsonice.com), but also as a reminder of just how much you can enjoy right here.
