Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Opinionist: <em>Frequency Hopping</em>
By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 15, 2008
Modified Jun 15, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 15, 2008
Modified Jun 15, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Hollywood, 1940. As Hitler devours Europe and America inches toward war, a remarkable technology that could prove invaluable to the U.S. Navy is invented by… a sexy movie star and an avant garde composer? Though it sounds more than a little far-fetched, it’s actually a true story, and the subject of Elyse Singer’s multimedia play Frequency Hopping.
Staged at 3 Legged Dog, the elegant production deploys a small army of robotic instruments (drums, gongs, eight player pianos) and lavish 3D holograms to accent a rather reserved tale about sexual attraction sublimated into an impressive breakthrough. The alluring Erica Newhouse plays actress Hedy Lamarr, an Austrian immigrant who gained insight into military technology from her first husband, arms dealer Friedrich Mandl, before fleeing the oppressive marriage and her country. In Hollywood, she began an unlikely collaboration with her neighbor, the somewhat frustrated composer George Antheil, played here by Joseph Urla, who some may recognize from The Wire.
Singer focuses in on the forbidden love between the two married but restless souls as they simultaneously flirt and invent. The title takes its name from their innovation, which was intended to make radio-guided torpedoes harder for enemies jam. It was a bit ahead of its time, and the fruit of their labor was largely shrugged off by the military, but after the patent expired the Navy used it during the Cuban missile crisis, and it eventually became the basis for Wi-Fi.
As Singer makes clear in a director’s note, the notion of “changing frequencies to avoid enemy detection” is used here as a metaphor for the ways “we send secret codes to each other” in intimate relationships. But because the relationship between Lamarr and Antheil remains stuck on a repetitive loop of repressed longing, the metaphor ends up overworked. Happily, Urla and Newhouse have the skills to keep things afloat, and Singer’s crisp dialogue gives them fun stuff to play with. Joshua Ford’s score, as executed by Eric Singer’s robots, creates an edgy atmosphere that might be difficult to conjure elsewhere – the same goes for 3LD’s Eyeliner technology, which doesn’t get the full-spectrum work out it did in Charles Mee’s Fire Island, but adds an eye-pleasing touch nonetheless.
Frequency Hopping continues through June 29th at 3LD Art and Technology Center [80 Greenwich Street @ Rector Street]. Tickets cost $20.
Tagged
3LD
Frequency Hopping
new
play
review
show
theater
three legged dog
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
The Knicks are NBA champions. Now they have to start dressing the part.
Before they attempt to fend off LeBron James and the 76ers on Tuesday, the Knicks will have a chance to show off their winning mentality through their tunnel fits.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Oct 19, 2026 at 12:43 p.m. ET
Will Barnes and Noble in the East Village spell doom for smaller shops? It's complicated.
Independent booksellers are grappling with whether the big-box chain is a threat or an ally in the fight against Amazon.
By
Sonia Rao
Arts & Entertainment
Will Barnes and Noble in the East Village spell doom for smaller shops? It's complicated.
Independent booksellers are grappling with whether the big-box chain is a threat or an ally in the fight against Amazon.
By
Sonia Rao
Can eligible NYC singles find love with 30 minutes and some really spicy food?
By
Elizabeth Shwe
and
James Ramsay
How the NYC Marathon has changed in the last 50 years
By
Hannah Frishberg
A visit to Art of Play, the Brooklyn store in an animatronic bird beef with Kelly Clarkson
By
Sonia Rao
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .