For those of us who know our musicals from DVDs and Christmas TV, John Wilson's Hollywood Prom delivered a pleasurable shock. His orchestra, with its nine-piece percussion section and full-blown jazz big band, blasted out a surround-sound version of music that is usually squeezed through the tiny speakers of a telly.

Without the tap dances, chorus girls and (often flimsy) plots, the music had to stand up for itself. Wilson, who has brought a passion for authentic performance to movie soundtracks, shone a glittering spotlight on arrangers such as Ray Heindorf, Conrad Salinger and Lloyd "Skip" Martin. They were Hollywood's invisible men, who toiled behind the tinsel to stretch three-minute ditties into extended suites (This Heart of Mine) or craft subtle tone poems that became huge hits (Secret Love, sung beautifully by Clare Teal).

A tag team of vocalists interpreted familiar songs from movies made between 1935 and 1969 – from Top Hat to Hello Dolly. The charming Matthew Ford charmingly channelled both Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. Annalene Beechey did a pitch-perfect Julie Andrews (as Mary Poppins) on Jolly Holiday, in which Irwin Kostal's dense, relentlessly complex score tipped a hat to composer Carl Stalling (of Warner Bros cartoon fame).

A suite of Heindorf arrangements from the Judy Garland vehicle A Star Is Born let singer Caroline O'Connor shine on the sultry, subtle The Man That Got Away. Tenor Charles Castronovo interpreted two of the more classical tunes: Serenade (The Student Prince) and One Hand One Heart (West Side Story) with soprano Sarah Fox.

The Maida Vale Singers sang lustily on showstoppers such as Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat and Put On Your Sunday Clothes. But the stars of the evening were the (until now) unsung arrangers, whose work was reinvigorated by Wilson's scholarship – and the musicians, who performed the demanding scores with affection and exuberance.

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