Review: Home Alone in Concert with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra

Review by Regan Baker

I went into Home Alone in Concert not really knowing what I was walking into. I mean, I love the movie. Everyone does. It is one of those films that always ends up on at some point in December whether you planned it or not. But I never pictured it as a live orchestra event. It felt like one of those choices where you go “oh… ok, sure, why not.” 

The Queensland Symphony Orchestra filed in, the lights dropped, and once the movie started it was pretty clear the score is only sprinkled through the film instead of running constantly. John Williams wrote some beautiful moments for it, no question there, but I honestly forgot how much of Home Alone is just Kevin talking, Kevin running, or the Wet Bandits getting smashed in the face with something. So the orchestra would play a lovely cue, then sit quietly for ages, then jump back in again. They sounded fantastic when they got their moments, I just felt a little bad that the film did not give them more to do. 

Another standout was the Voices of Birralee, who joined us for the second act.  Every time their voices rung through the auditorium the whole vibe changed. They have this really clean, warm sound that fits Christmas music perfectly, and it made the big emotional moments in the film feel a lot more “live” than you expect from something you have seen a hundred times. When they sang “Somewhere in My Memory,” it honestly felt like the room stilled for a bit. That was probably the closest the whole night came to feeling like a proper Christmas concert rather than a movie screening. 

The audience definitely made it more fun. Watching a film like this with a whole room of people who basically know it scene for scene is its own thing. Everyone still cracked up at the same moments. Kids laughed at the slapstick, and the adults tried to hold it together but failed pretty quickly. It is that shared nostalgia that kicks in whether you mean it to or not. 

The venue itself… well, it is a convention centre, so it is not exactly dripping in festive atmosphere, but once the movie settled in, no one seemed to care. It was more about the comfort of watching something familiar with a live soundtrack attached. 

By the end I still wasn’t sure the concept fully made sense, but it was oddly sweet in its own way. Home Alone just does not give an orchestra a huge amount to play with, so there were a few stretches where they looked like they were waiting for the next green light. When their cues did come though, the sound filled the room beautifully. And the choir honestly saved the whole structure of the night. They were the glue. 

It is not a perfect match of concept and movie, but it is still a good night out. Somewhere between watching a film and going to a Christmas concert. Not quite either, but still something that sends you out into the night feeling lighter.

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