Story of the Show
HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr
A True Story of Hollywood Glamour & Scientific Genius
The World-Renowned Theatrical Tour de Force
Celebrating Women in Science
The 31x Award-Winning, Internationally Acclaimed NYC Play
Featured in 26 Countries on 5 Continents!
Written & Performed by Heather Massie
"Captivating" -- The Huffington Post
As featured throughout the US, Canada, Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Iceland, Austria, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Ukraine, Kosovo, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Albania, Serbia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Australia, and New Zealand!
Hedy Lamarr, glamorous siren of the silver screen, was more than ‘The Most Beautiful Woman in the World’. She invented Frequency-Hopping Spread Spectrum Technology that makes the world of wireless communication tick. From Austria to Hollywood, WWII, torpedoes, ecstasy, and intrigue to the very cell phone in your pocket, Hedy Lamarr is there!
Heather Massie enchants the audience as Hedy Lamarr, along with Jimmy Stewart, Bette Davis, Louis B Mayer, and more! A 36-character solo play where the audience summons Hedy to unearth the truth behind how a glamorous Hollywood film star could create an invention used in our cell phones, WiFi, GPS, & Bluetooth - launching today's wireless technology revolution!
Mission
To inspire audiences to make the world a better place.
To encourage young women in science & technology.
To establish Hedy Lamarr as a role model for intelligence, ingenuity & invention.
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.
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 playing the 33 other characters in Hedy’s life including Jimmy Stewart, George Sanders, Bette Davis, and Louis B. Mayer. The audience summons Hedy to unearth the truth behind how such a glamorous actress could create an invention which is ubiquitous today. Massie says, "I use the story of the unexpected genius of Hedy Lamarr to empower women, to inspire audiences to find ways each day to make the world a better place, and to encourage young women in endeavors of science and technology."
Heather Massie stars as Hedy Lamarr; Directors - Blake Walton & Leslie Kincaid Burby; Projections - Jim Marlowe & Charley Marlowe; Sound Design - Jacob Subotnick and Andy Evan Cohen; Dialects - Page Clements; Technical Director - Dan Leary; Photography - Al Foote III, Charley Marlowe & Monica Callan.
Heather Massie was honored as the Outstanding Actress in a Staged Reading at the 2016 Planet Connections Theatre Festivity in New York City for HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr. The World Premiere was presented on Hedy Lamarr’s 102nd birthday in the United Solo Festival in New York City, and was named a 2016 Festival Bestseller. Ms. Massie was awarded with the Best Actress Award in the 2017 SaraSolo Festival in Sarasota, Florida; with the Audience Choice Award for the 2017 Shenandoah Fringe in Staunton, Virginia; with the Outstanding Performance in a Solo Show Award for the 2017 Planet Connections Theatre Festivity in NYC; with the Best Actress Award in the 2017 Galway Fringe in Galway, Ireland; and with the Audience Choice and Sold Out Awards in the 2017 IndyFringe Festival in Indianapolis, IN. It was developed in the Artist-in-Residence program in 2016 at the Grange Hall Cultural Center in Waterbury Center, VT, and performed there in March 2017. It was also presented in DivaFest 2017 in Indianapolis in March 2017; at Gamut Classic Theatre in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, July 2017; in a special NYC performance for Hedy Lamarr’s family and biographers in April, 2017; in a special invited performance at The Stag’s Head in Dublin, Ireland in July, 2017; and in the 2017 Charm City Fringe in Baltimore, MD in Nov., 2017.
Ms. Massie performed the show in the 2017 Intwasa Arts Festival in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, facilitated by the US Embassy, Zimbabwe. Ms. Massie served as a Cultural Envoy to the 2008 Intwasa Arts Festival as assistant to Tony-Nominated Playwrighting Instructor Mr. Leslie Lee. She returned to Intwasa to present HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr in her Leslie Lee Memorial Tour, and continued the tour in Cape Town, South Africa at the Alexander Bar, Cafe & Theatre and the Cape Town Science Centre. In Dec 2017 she performed the show aboard the USS Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in NYC for their GOALS for Girls Program, and in a Lecture Recording for NPR - WITF’s Mind Matters program for The Department of Aging in Pennsylvania. She returned to the SaraSolo Festival in 2018 to present an Encore! Performance and a lecture on Hedy Lamarr. In February, she was the keynote lecturer for the 2018 Inspirefest Salon New York. A special performance of the show was presented at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York in NYC in honor of International Women's Day and the Austrian Remembrance Year on March 6, 2018. And Ms. Massie delivered a lecture on Hedy Lamarr on International Women's Day at Siegel+Gale in NYC; and performed the show at Millersville University in Millersville, at Champlain College in Burlington, VT, and at the Grange Hall Cultural Center in Waterbury Center, VT in April 2018.
Ms. Massie presented the show at the Harare International Festival of the Arts in Harare, Zimbabwe, May, 2018, facilitated by the US Embassy, Zimbabwe; the Unizulu Science Centre, Science Festival in Durban, South Africa, May, 2018; the Thope Foundation in Khayelitsha, South Africa, May, 2018; the Makukhanye Art Room in Khayelitsha, South Africa, May, 2018; Women in Tech Cape Town at Alexander Bar, Cafe & Theatre, Cape Town, South Africa, May, 2018; George Arts Theatre in George, South Africa, May, 2018; and the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, May-June, 2018.
She was honored to perform for Inspirefest 2018, the presigious Technology Confernece in parntership with Silicon Republic in Dublin, Ireland, June 2018 in the 2000 seat Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. She then performed at the Dublin Science Gallery hosted by Women in Technology & Science in Dublin, Ireland, June 2018; at Accidental Theatre in Belfast, Northern Ireland, July 2018; at Áras Éanna Arts Centre on Inisheer, Aran Islands, Ireland, July 2018; at Halla Rónáin on Inishmore, Aran Islands, Ireland, July 2018; in the Gothenburg Fringe, Gothenburg, Sweden, August, 2018; in the New York New Works Theater Festival at the Acorn Theatre on Theatre Row, NYC, September, 2018; in the Scranton Fringe Festival September, 2018; and at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia at Old Cabell Hall, October, 2018. She performed at the historic Players Club on Gramercy Park in NYC with White Horse Theater Company, November 16, 2018; and showcased the work at the 2019 APAP Conference in NYC in January.
She then performed in the OnStage! Festival, Rome, Italy, January, 2019 to a sold out house, and for secondary schools; she was interviewed on Vatican Radio and on national Italian news. She then toured the show to the south of Ireland to St John’s Theatre, Listowel, Co. Kerry, Ireland - February 1, 2019; The Village Arts Centre, Kilworth, Co. Cork, Ireland - February 7, 2019; the Friars' Gate Theatre, Kilmallock, Co. Limerick, Ireland - February 8, 2019; Tech Amergin, Waterville, Co. Kerry, Ireland - February 10, 2019 and two performances at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, March 22, 2019 at The Cube in the Moss Arts Center, sponsored by the Virginia Tech Science Festival, the Kevin T. Crofton Dept of Aerospace & Ocean Engineering, the Bradley Dept of Electrical & Computer Engineering, the Virginia Tech Women’s Center, the Moss Arts Center, and the Institute for Creativity, Arts & Technology. She performed with ACANSA in North Little Rock, Arkansas April 25, 2019; and at the Town Hall Theatre, Mainstage in Galway, Ireland, May 29, 2019.
Ms. Massie served as a 2019 Fulbright Specialist to South Africa, through the US State Department, World Learning, and the US Embassy South Africa to perform with RedFest, the Rural Education Festival in Giyani and Tzaneen, South Africa, July 2019; with Inkcubeko Youth & Science Centre in George, South Africa for National Science Week, July- Aug 2019; with Christoph Meyer Maths & Science Centre in Mseleni, South Africa, Aug 2019; and at Theatre On The Square in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, August 2019. She performed the show with Gamut Theatre Group - Harrisburg, PA - October 2019, with the AHA! Festival - Chalmers University, Gothenburg, Sweden - November 2019; and showcased the show at APAP 2020 in NYC in Jan 2020. She performed with the Stone Hill Arts Series, Stone Hill Church of Princeton - Princeton, NJ - February 8, 2020; with the PRO.ACT Festival in Kyiv, Ukraine - Feb 28-Mar 1, 2020 earning the Best Performance Award; with Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory - Laurel, MD - March 6, 2020; and with Doudna Fine Arts Center - Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL - March 10-12, 2020. Due to the worldwide pandemic, her heavy itinerary for 2020 was put on pause. Many engagements have been rescheduled and several are to be determined.
After a pandemic hiatus Massie returned to live performance with a Sold Out and Extened Run at the National WWII Museum in BB's Stage Door Canteen in New Orleans, LA - May 21-30, 2021. She then traveled to Iceland sponsored by a US Embassy Iceland Grant for the RVK Fringe Festival - Reykjavík, Iceland - July 3-11, 2021 playing at the prestigious Tjarnarbíó Theater, and was awarded The Character Actor Award, and The Maine Award (awarding her participation in the PortFringe Festival in Portland, ME in June 2022). As she was to have appeared as part of the Main Programme for the National Arts Festival in 2020, and live events were still not possible in 2021, one of her performances was streamed live from Reykjavík, Iceland to the National Arts Festival - Grahamstown/Makhanda, South Africa Virtual on July 10, 2021 for a truly cross-continental, cross-cultural event, which employed Hedy Lamarr's technology!
Massie then performed for the Stowe Theatre Guild in Stowe, VT - Sept 11&12, 2021; and for Suffolk Community College in Brentwood, NY - Oct 27, 2021. And in November 2021 she travelled to Italy by special invitation to perform with Lucido’s Festival "Extraordinary Women" in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy - Nov 18-21, 2021.
Massie’s goal is to create a trilogy of shows celebrating women in science. Her second is to be Flying with Sally Ride! America’s First Woman in Space. In February 2019 she was the Resident Artist at the Áras Éanna Arts Centre on the island of Inisheer in the Aran Islands, Co. Galway, Ireland, for the research phase of this new work. She continued this work in an Artist Residency with the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center in New York Mills, MN in April, 2022 and is in continued development with premiere announcements anticipated in 2027.
She has also performed HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr with the following:
Private Virtual Performance - Zurich, Switzerland - Jan 24, 2022
Tubac Center of the Arts - Tubac, AZ - Jan 28, 2022
Willcox Theater and Arts - Willcox, AZ - Jan 29, 2022
CPAC Community Performance & Art Center - Green Valley, AZ - Jan 31, 2022
High Point Theatre - High Point, NC - (previously Feb 24) Rescheduled to Oct 7, 2022
Goodwill Theatre - Johnson City, NY - Mar 11 (private) & 12 (public), 2022
District Theatre - Indianapolis, IN - Mar 18-20, 2022
New York Mills Regional Cultural Center - New York Mills, MN - Apr 13, 2022
Sweden Tour sponsored by the US Embassy Sweden & the US Dept of State:
UPPTECH Science Center - Jönköping, Sweden - Apr 26-28, 2022
Navet Science Center - Borås, Sweden - May 3-5, 2022
Vetenskapsfestivalen - Intn’l Science Festival - Gothenburg, Sweden - May 6&7, 2022
Vetenskapsfestivalen Show: May 6 @7PM & Lecture: May 7 @4pm
Finland shows sponsored by Mid Atlantic Arts USArtists International:
FinFringe - Turku, Finland - May 11&14, 2022
Tom Tits Experiment Science Museum - Södertälje, Sweden - May 17-18, 2022
Cincy Fringe - Cincinnati, OH - June 5-11, 2022
PortFringe - Portland, ME - June 14-18, 2022
Virginia 4-H All Stars Centennial - Lecture - Blacksburg, VA - July 30, 2022
WAA Conference - Calgary, Canada - Aug 29 - Sept 1, 2022
Scifest Africa - Grahamstown/Makhanda, South Africa - Sept 7-10, 2022
Cairo Days International Monodrama Festival - Cairo, Egypt - Sept 12-16, 2022
TBD - Intwasa Arts Festival - Bulawayo, Zimbabwe - Sept 26 - Oct 1, 2022
High Point Theatre - High Point, NC - Oct 7, 2022 - preceded by a Hedy Lamarr Film Festival
Zeiterion Performing Arts Center, New Bedford, MA - Nov 1, 2022 - preceded & followed by a Hedy Lamarr Film Festival
Sigma Xi Conference - Alexandria, VA - Nov 5, 2022
Upper Manhattan - NYC - Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Grant - TBA 22/23
Amityville Women’s Club - Amityville, NY - Jan 10, 2023
APAP Conference - NYC- Jan 12-17, 2023
Desert Hills Presbyterian Church - Scottsdale, AZ - Jan 27, 2023
Sarasota Jewish Theatre - Sarasota, FL - Feb 22-26, 2023
Kirkland Fine Arts Center, Millikin University - Decatur, IL - Apr 21, 2023
And
-Altesira International Monodrama Festival - El Ksour, Tunisia - June 6-12, 2023
-Virginia State 4-H Congress, Burruss Hall, VA Tech, Blacksburg, VA - June 27, 2023
-Barrymore Film Center - Fort Lee, NJ - Aug 19, 2023 @ 7:30 PM
-WAA - Booking Conference - Seattle, WA - Sept 5-8, 2023
-MAX - Booking Conference - Indianapolis, IN - Sept 18-21, 2023
-Intwasa Arts Festival - Bulawayo, Zimbabwe - Sept 26-30, 2023
Bulawayo Theatre - Wed Sept 27 @ 6PM & Thur Sept 28 @ 2PM
US Embassy Zimbabwe Grant
-Alliance Française Lusaka - Lusaka, Zambia - Oct 7, 2023
-New York City - Morningside Players, 100 La Salle St, NYC - Oct 25-29, 2023
Supported by an LMCC Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Grant
-International Female Monodrama Festival - El Oued, Algeria - Nov 5-10, 2023
- postponed to Jan 2024
-Chilliwack Cultural Centre - Chilliwack, BC, Canada - Nov 16, 2023
-Invisible Theatre - Tucson, AZ - Dec 6-10, 2023
-APAP Conference - NYC - Jan 12-16, 2024
-International Women’s Monodrama Festival - El Oued, Algeria - Jan 26-30, 2024
- Jury Prize
-Oxford Community Arts Center - Oxford, OH - Feb 10, 2024 @ 7:30PM
-Flint Institute of Music - Virtual Shows for Schools & Seniors - Flint, MI
Feb 24 - March 4, 2024
-Heindl Center for the Performing Arts - Senatobia, MS - Mar 5, 2024 @ 7:30PM
-Berman Center for Performing Arts, JCC of Metropolitan Detroit, The J
Performance - Mar 14, 2024 @ 7:30PM
Dementia-Friendly Matinee - Mar 15, 2024 @ 1:00PM
-International Monodrama Festival Carthage - Tunisia - Apr 27 - May 1, 2024
Performance April 29 - House of Culture, Nabeul, Tunisia
-MONO AKT International Festival of Monodrama - Pristina, Kosovo
June 9-14, 2024 - Performance Tuesday, June 11, 2024 @ 7:30 PM
-Teatri Dodona - Pristina, Kosovo - Jury Prize for Playwriting
-Barons Court Theatre - London, England - July 10-13, 2024
-Summer Scriptwriting Base, Storytellers of the Future - Dolen, Bulgaria
Special Short Performance - July 24, 2024
-AUSTRALIA - FULBRIGHT SPECIALIST TOUR - AUG 5 - SEPT 12, 2024
-MAX Conference, Indianapolis, IN - Sept 16-19, 2024
-OAPN Conference, Toledo, OH - Sept 29 - Oct 3, 2024
-NCPC ArtsMarket, Durham, NC - Oct 21-23, 2024
-Allegheny High School, Covington, VA - Dec 2, 2024
- APAP Conference - NYC - Jan 10-14, 2025
- Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki - Auckland Arts Festival - New Zealand - March 13-16, 2025
- Dunedin Fringe Festival - Dunedin, New Zealand - March 19, 22 & 23, 2025
Co-hosted by New Zealand International Science Festival
- GeniusFEST - Santa Monica Playhouse, Santa Monica, CA - April 24-27, 2025
- The Strand Theatre - Shelbyville, IN
May 3, 2025 @ 7:30PM - Postponed due to temporary venue closure
- MONOFEST International Mono-Performance Festival - Kostanay, Kazakhstan
May 13-18, 2025 - (canceled due to family emergency)
- Lakeside Chautauqua - Lakeside, OH - June 2, 2025
Screening of Samson & Delilah - June 4, 2025
- MOLDFEST 2025 - Chișinău, Moldova - The XIII International Festival - Laboratory of Chamber Theatres and Small-Form Performances at the State Academic Drama Theatre "From the Street of Roses" named after Yuri Kharmelin - Wed, June 25, 2025
- Al Manara International Theatre Festival - Boujdour, Morocco
August 1-3, 2025 - Performance August 3, 2025
- Midwest Arts Xpo - Milwaukee, WI
Showcasing Sept 16 @ 10:50PM & Sept 17 @ 10:20PM - Baird Center 207
- Tbilisi Pomegranates International Theatre Festival - Tbilisi, Georgia- Sept 23-28, 2025
International Chamber and Mono Play Festival - Performance Sept 28, 2025 - Here
- HIGH FEST - Yerevan, Armenia - Oct 1-8, 2025 - Performance Oct 3, 2025
- International Monodrama Festival - Pogradec, Albania - Oct 6-12, 2025 - Perf Oct 7
- University of Arts - Black Box -Tirana, Albania - Wed Oct 15, 2025
- Warren Performing Arts Center - The Eash Grand Auditorium - Indianapolis, Indiana
Oct 21, 2025
- MUZETEA Festival - Belgrade, Serbia - Nov 3-5, 2025 - Perf Nov 4, 2025
- MUZETEA Festival - Podgorica, Montenegro (fest canceled) - Nov 6-8, 2025 - Perf Nov 8
- SULZ, AUSTRIA - Austrian Premiere - In Honor of Hedy’s 111th Birthdate!
THEATERMOBIL - Kleinkunsttankstelle Theatergarage
Sat Nov 15, 2025 @ 8:30PM & Sun Nov 16, 2025 @ 6:00PM
-APAP Conference - NYC - Showcases Sat Jan 10 & Sun Jan 11, 2026
- Well•Spring - Greensboro, NC - Jan 29&30, 2026
Virginia Somerville Sutton Theatre, Greensboro, NC
https://www.facebook.com/events/877424804812604
- McCain Auditorium at Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas
McCain Performance Series, Feb 27, 2026 Info & Tickets
Artist Residency, Feb 23-27, 2026
And many more!
Plans are underway for further production in international festivals, regional theatres, universities, museums, libraries, schools, and scientific and cultural organizations. Further Upcoming and Past production dates can be found at the show’s homepage www.HeatherMassie.com/Hedy and at www.heathermassie.com/hedy/upcoming.
This project is recommended, and supported in part, by the Austrian Cultural Forum New York.