A Harry Potter encore and other best bits from the Warner Bros Prom
Prom 30: The Warner Brothers Story saw John Wilson and his orchestra pay tribute to classic Hollywood scores, performing iconic songs from Warner Brothers studios' most loved and revered movies.
Featuring music by everyone from Frederick Loewe to John Williams, here's what happened on the night...
The Prom got off to a swashbuckling start
What a way to kick off a Prom, with our musical voyage through technicolour history beginning with a rendition of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's score for The Sea Hawk, a 1940 black and white adventure picture which starred Errol Flynn as a British soldier in the Spanish Armada.
The Austrian-born composer's work earned him an Academy Award nomination and the gliding violins and triumphant horns of the John Wilson Orchestra ensured a swashbuckling start to the Prom and won the night's first rousing round of applause.
There was a stunning Judy Garland tribute
The Man That Got Away, from the 1954 Judy Garland adaptation of A Star Is Born, has been belted out by some iconic voices over the years: Barbra Streisand, Shirley Bassey, Cher, even being covered by Frank Sinatra as The Gal That Got Away.
Now you can add singer and West End star Louise Dearman to the esteemed list. She delivered a show-stopping rendition of the classic that did Judy Garland proud.
Get him to the church!
1964's My Fair Lady is one of the most beloved musicals that Warner Bros. has ever produced, starring none other than Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle. It gave us some classic musical numbers, including Wouldn't It Be Loverly? and With a Little Bit of Luck, but perhaps the most instantly recognisable has to be Get Me to the Church on Time, which remains a staple soundtrack for nervy grooms on Wedding Day mornings.
Matt Ford and the Maida Vale Singers' performance of the song had all the hallmarks of classic Hollywood: emotion, theatrics and technical brilliance.
Doris Day would have been proud
When, sadly, Doris Day passed away earlier this year, tributes flooded in for one of the biggest and most enduring stars of Hollywood. Aptly, the Warner Bros. Prom featured a Doris Day tribute of its own, with many of the films that Day herself starred in honoured on the night: Calamity Jane and Romance on the High Seas included.
Just try and listen to Mikaela Bennett's rendition of It's Magic (from Romance on the High Seas) and not be transported to a magical far-away place.
What a voice!
Taking us full circle and back to the 1940s, opera singer Kate Lindsey closed the second half of the Prom with a stirring performance of Tomorrow, another Korngold piece, this time from 1943's The Constant Nymph.
The encore delivered a very WAND-erful ending
How could we forget Harry? The Warner Bros. Proms concluded with an excerpt from John Williams' brilliant Harry Potter soundtrack, proving that modern cinema still has the ability to dazzle and mesmerise not only with its high-budget visuals but with sound too.
A perfect ending for a perfect evening, wouldn't you agree?
