Kevin Spacey manages London theater

LONDON, May 25 (UPI) -- Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey has assumed the position of artistic director of London's Old Vic Theater.

Spacey, who served on the search committee for the position, will begin his first season in September, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

"Why was I spending all this energy trying to find someone else when I felt in my heart that this was what I meant to do?," Spacey said.

Spacey brings several benefits to the job.

"When I read a play, I read it from an actor's perspective," he said.

He also can easily use his personal contacts to attract other actors to his theater, the Times said.

During his first season, Spacey will produce "Cloaca," by Dutch writer Maria Goos, which Spacey will direct, followed by "Aladdin," a Christmas pantomime starring Ian McKellen; the London premiere of "National Anthems," a play by Dennis McIntyre that Spacey first performed in 1988 at the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven; and the first London revival of "The Philadelphia Story."