'HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr' Begins Tonight at United Solo

United Solo Theatre Festival, the world's largest solo theatre festival, presents HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, written and performed by Heather Massie, directed by Joan Kane, on Hedy Lamarr's 102nd Birthday, as part its 7th season at Theatre Row, 410 W 42nd St., NYC, tonight, November 9th, @ 7:30PM and Friday, November 11th @ 7:30PM.

Hedy Lamarr, glamorous siren of the silver screen, was more than the most beautiful woman in the world. She invented frequency hopping and spread spectrum technology that make the world of wireless communication tick. From Austria to Hollywood, WWII, torpedoes, ecstasy, and intrigue to the very cell phone in your pocket, she was there!

HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr explores the life, inventions and person of Hedy Lamarr, Viennese-born Hollywood film star of the 1930s-1950s. Known as The Most Beautiful Woman in the World, Hedy Lamarr stored away knowledge of munitions while married to Austrian arms dealer, Fritz Mandl. She employed this knowledge to support the US Navy's war effort during WWII by inventing The Secret Communication System with composer George Antheil, to make torpedoes more accurate. Also referred to as Frequency Hopping or Spread Spectrum Technology, her invention is used today in cell phones, WiFi, CDMA, GPS, Bluetooth and a myriad of other wireless systems.

HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr has appeal for all audiences, with special interest for Austrian, Jewish, Film, History, Scientific, Wireless Communication, Military, Theatre, and LGBTQ Communities, as well as Teenagers, Adults, and Retirees. It is slated to perform at the Grange Hall Cultural Center in Waterbury Center, VT, and the SaraSolo Festival in Sarasota, FL, both in early 2017. Plans are underway for further NY productions, as well International Festivals, Regional Theatres, Universities, Museums, Libraries, Schools, and Cultural Organizations. This event is recommended by the Austrian Cultural Forum New York.

HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr will star Heather Massie as Hedy Lamarr (Greyhounds and Reflections of a Heart - Theatre Row; Martin: A New American Musical by Leslie Lee & Charles Strouse - NEC; developmental readings of Legends, and Apples & Oranges by Leslie Lee - Signature Theatre; The Book of Lambert and Mina, both by Leslie Lee - LaMaMa). Having studied Astrophysics with dreams of becoming an astronaut, Heather Massie marries her loves of art and science in the person of Hedy Lamarr. She brings Hedy to life while interacting with the audience, and unearths the truth behind how such a glamorous actress could create an invention that is so ubiquitous today.

Ms. Massie was honored as the 2016 Outstanding Actress in a Staged Reading at Planet Connections Theatre Festivity for HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr. The production will feature costume design by Cat Fisher, lighting design by Bruce A! Kraemer, projections by Jim Marlowe & Charles Marlowe, sound design by Jacob Subotnick, and dialects by Page Clements.

TICKETS are $20.25 (including a $2.25 theatre restoration charge) at the Theatre Row Box Office 410 W 42nd St., or Telecharge at www.telecharge.com, or 212-239-6200. When purchasing provide: the FESTIVAL - United Solo Theatre Festival, the THEATRE - Theatre Row, and the DATE & TIME - Friday, November 11th @ 7:30PM. Festival website: unitedsolo.org/us/hedy-2016.

Heather Massie (Writer / Solo Performer) is a NYC Actor and Writer. Originally from Virginia, Ms. Massie has always been fascinated by the sciences, especially Astronomy. She studied Astrophysics at the University of Virginia, and Theatre Arts at The Virginia Tech School of the Arts, graduating Summa Cum Laude. Ms. Massie has performed extensively regionally and nationally with: Mill Mountain Theatre, Allenberry Playhouse, Flat Rock Playhouse, Phoenix Theatre, Arizona Jewish Theatre Company, Nearly Naked Theatre, Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival, Southwest Shakespeare, Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre, and Harrisburg Shakespeare Festival. In NYC she has performed at Signature Theatre in readings of the plays Legends and Apples & Oranges by playwright Leslie Lee. She is a member of WorkShop Theater, Manhattan Theatre Works, NyLon Fusion Theatre, Firebone Theatre, Abingdon Theatre, and the Negro Ensemble Company. She has also performed on Theatre Row, at LaMaMa, Metropolitan Playhouse, The Lamb's Theatre, 45th St. Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Dramatists Guild, New Dramatists, The Actors Studio, and more. She received the Jean Dalrymple Award for Best Supporting Actor and received three AriZoni Award Nominations. She served as a Cultural Envoy to Zimbabwe for the 2008 Intwasa Arts Festival, and worked in Ecuador and St. Petersburg, Russia. Ms. Massie collaborated for many years with the late Tony-Nominated playwright Mr. Leslie Lee, another scientist turned artist. She performed at LaMaMa in his plays The Book of Lambert, and Mina, about the life of painter-poet, Mina Loy; and in Mr. Lee's musicAl Martin: A New American Musical with music and lyrics by Charles Strouse, with the Negro Ensemble Company. Upon Leslie Lee's passing in 2014, Ms. Massie founded the Leslie Lee Legacy Foundation to foster the continued production of Leslie Lee's writings.

Joan Kane (Director) is the founding Artistic Director of Ego Actus and recently directed I Know What Boys Want at Theatre Row, Six Characters in Search of an Author in Oslo, Norway and Kafka's Belinda in Prague. She also directed both Safe and what do you mean at 59E59 Theaters and in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, getting four star reviews for each. Joan was named to the Indie Theatre Hall of Fame by nytheatre.com. She has directed plays and readings for the Lark Play Development Center, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Theater for the New City, Urban Stages, the Bleecker St Theater, the Workshop Theater, Nylon Fusion, Abingdon Theatre, Oberon Theatre, the Samuel French Short Play Festival, Planet Connections Festivity, the Midtown International Festival, the Prague Fringe Festival, the Dramatists Guild, NY Madness, The Players Club, the Lambs Club and The Actors Studio. She has been nominated for Outstanding Direction Awards three times each in the MITF and Planet Connections winning once. Joan has an MFA in Directing from The New School, an MS in Museum Education from Bank Street College and is a member of The New York Madness Company, the Dramatists Guild, the League of Professional Theatre Women, the Lambs Club and the Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers. www.egoactus.com

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