Troubies’ “Home Alone-ly Hearts Club Band” at the Colony

Ah, it’s that time of year again, when the holiday lights go up, the temperature dips to the perilous lows of seventy-five degrees and children everywhere await the return of the Winter Warlock. If that last item doesn’t make any sense to you, then I extend my condolences, because that means you’ve never seen a Troubadour Theater Company holiday show. Their unique brand of entertainment takes a pre-existing story and makes it into a musical focusing on the music of one artist. This year that story is from the film Home Alone with the music of The Beatles, which results in the very entertaining and hilarious Troubies’ Home Alone-ly Hearts Club Band.

One holiday morning in the 1980s the McAllister family is getting ready for a holiday trip to Paris. Mother Kate (Beth Kennedy) is frazzled trying to keep track of her many children and travel details. “Six-to-eight year-old” Kevin (Matt Walker) is annoyed with his family in general, and so when the family flies off to Europe, mistakenly leaving him behind at the house, he’s initially delighted. Challenges arise, however, such as Kevin’s fear of next-door neighbor, creepy old man Marley (Mark McCracken), and even worse, a pair of thieves – Harry (Rick Batalla) and Marv (Philip McNiven) – from whom Kevin decides to defend his home.

Walker is amusing and admirably game as young Kevin, saying in case nobody noticed that the actor is in fact fifty-six, but that sort of thing just adds to the goofy fun of the show. He also helpfully points out the “dinosaurs” in the audience who get the older references, of which I am admittedly one. Kennedy does a great job channeling the Catherine O’Hara mother role from the film, and as usual her Winter Warlock work is terrific, stylishly employing a snow shovel. Batalla is great as Harry, the role played by Joe Pesci in the film, and he’s especially good having Harry delivering Pesci’s “am I a clown to you” scene from Goodfellas. McCracken scores as Marley, who can’t help but scare Kevin every time he speaks, and McNiven is quite good as the hapless Marv.

Walker’s direction is expert, constantly looking for ways to use the theatrical form to keep the show engaging, from physically moving a window set to follow an actor unexpectedly on the other side of the stage to using text in a projection to draw attention to a previously obscure plot point in the film. His use of black light paint and props to recreate the series of traps Kevin sets is very clever and effective. The Sgt. Pepper song adaptations fit the story surprisingly well, from the jazzy rendition of “She’s Leaving Home” used to show the family flying off to France to Kevin’s celebration of having the house to himself in “Good Morning.” The humor is abundant and good-spirited, such as a line in which the thieves describe a rich family by saying, “they’ve got that duct tape banana thing.” The well-named “Troubadorchestra” does fine work throughout, and there’s even a surprise blast from the past I wasn’t expecting.

Home Alone-ly is an enjoyable offering in the excellent tradition of Troubie shows. If you can get tickets (they often sell out fast), it’s a guaranteed good time. Happy holidays to all, or as the Troubies might say, “boogedy ha!”

Troubies’ Home Alone-ly Hearts Club Band is presented by Troubadour Theater Company at the Colony Theater and plays through December 22, 2024. Tickets are available at https://www.colonytheatre.org/thetroubies