Symphony Home Alone

Houston Symphony celebrates the holidays Home Alone — and it's a real scream!

Houston, specifically downtown Houston, is in no short supply of things to do during this time of year. But on Friday night, the Houston Symphony took the stage at Jones Hall for what might be the most unusual holiday treat this season.

The POPS orchestra performed the music of the classic Home Alone while the movie was shown in HD on a big screen. Since it's one of my must-see holiday movies, I had to be there!

To celebrate its 25^th anniversary, the movie is being shown around the country with symphonies playing renowned composer John Williams’ charming score, including the 20th Century Fox intro. The holiday hit features Kevin McCallister (played by Macaulay Culkin), an 8-year-old boy who is accidentally left behind when his family leaves for Christmas vacation and must defend his home against two bungling and idiotic thieves.

Nowadays it’s almost impossible to picture such an ordeal — leaving a child home alone with no way to contact parents for help. They can text, tweet or Facebook if they’re left alone and who needs a pay phone to call home? But the nostalgia that came along with the orchestrated picture was a perfect reminder that the holidays are all about family— even the ones who drive you crazy.

Many families gathered at the holiday show, some kids presumably seeing the flick for the first time, and their heartfelt laughter was heard throughout the theater, adding to the overall love and excitement of the season. The laughter in the packed hall was most pronounced during the scenes where Kevin outsmarted the bandits, with kids presumably trying to out-laugh one another at the outlandish scenes to stop the robbers (paint cans in the face, blow torch to the head, tar and nails to the feet, just to name a few).

The lobby of Jones Hall was filled with families taking family photos in front of the larger-than-life immaculately decorated Christmas tree, along with couples on festive date nights following right behind.

This was the first year Home Alone has played alongside a live orchestra, and if you missed it, cross your fingers it comes back next year.

The classic movie, Home Alone, is celebrating its 25th anniversary with screenings in HD at concert halls with symphonies performing the Academy Award-nominated score in sync with the film.

Courtesy photo

The classic movie, Home Alone, is celebrating its 25th anniversary with screenings in HD at concert halls with symphonies performing the Academy Award-nominated score in sync with the film.

theater downtown concerts symphony

Remembering the Flood

Texan wins Pulitzer Prize for heartbreaking story of Guadalupe flood

Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Aaron Parsley has won a Pulitzer Prize for "Where the River Took Us," published days after the flood.

Many Houstonians know someone who was impacted by the July 4, 2025 flood that killed more than 100 people. But one story cut through the chaos with an emotionally raw, first-person view of what actually happened. Texas Monthly senior editor Aaron Parsley published his survival story in "Where the River Took Us." On Monday, May 4, he has won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing.

The prestigious journalism award has 23 winners each spring. For features, the judges chiefly consider "quality of writing, originality and concision."

"Where the River Took Us," brought readers moment-by-moment from Parsley's family house on the Guadalupe River, to family members including Parsley rushing down the river itself, to reunification for most of the family and grief for his 20-month-old nephew, Clay, who drowned.

Parlsey renders each scene with arresting detail, recalling dialog and individual pieces of refuse raging past in the water: branches, furniture, a car with headlights still on. Adding to the immersion were photographs by Jordan Vonderhaar and Parsley's family. Published just days after the flood, the account was one of the first deep looks at what happened for readers who had only seen general news coverage and disorganized posts on social media.

“In a matter of hours, Aaron uncovered the singular experiences of family members wrenched from one another and thrown into a raging flood," said Texas Monthly editor in chief Ross McCammon in a story announcing the Pulitzer award. "He then braided those stories together to convey what a tragedy of this sort actually feels like. This is a deeply reported story of horror, courage, and love, and it is one of the finest magazine stories ever written.”

“I am grateful to my family for trusting me and to everyone at Texas Monthly for offering their support, talent, and meticulous care during the process of writing, reporting, and all that goes into putting this story into the world,” said Parsley. “It means everything to me, and I’m deeply proud to be a part of the Texas Monthly team.”

journalism floods natural disaster