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
Kevin Spacey Captain Georg von Trapp with Winningham as Maria von Trapp. He started using his middle name "Spacey", which is also his paternal grandmother's maiden name. Spacey had tried to succeed as a comedian for several years before attending the Juilliard School in New York City, as a member of Group 12, where he studied drama with teacher Marian Seldes between 1979 and 1981. During this time period, he performed stand-up comedy in bowling alley talent contests. Spacey's first professional stage appearance was as a spear carrier in a New York Shakespeare Festival performance of "Henry VI, Part 1" in 1981.