John Wilson (conductor) "West Side Story". He wrote and directed his own pantomime during this period and he also conducted for many local amateur dramatic societies. Later he attended the Royal College of Music, first as a percussionist, and later studying composition and conducting. During this time won the institution's Tagore Gold Medal for outstanding academic excellence. In 2004 Wilson was appointed the music director for the Hollywood feature film "Beyond the Sea", a biopic of the life of Bobby Darin starring Kevin Spacey. In 2007 he conducted the BBC Concert Orchestra in a BBC Proms concert of British film music, followed in
Beyond the Sea (film) show, complete with a gospel choir, at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, and against all odds it is a huge success. But his triumph is short-lived. Suffering from blood poisoning following surgery to repair his mechanical heart valve, Darin is rushed to the hospital, where he dies at the age of thirty-seven. Following his death, he meets the younger counterpart of himself once again, and the two duet with "As Long As I'm Singing." Cathy Moriarty-Gentile and Vanessa Redgrave were originally cast in "Beyond the Sea", but both actresses dropped out for unspecified reasons. Beginning in 1986, Barry Levinson