Hedy Lamarr: Snow White Under the Knife
Donation protected
Hedy Lamarr: Snow White Under the Knife, by composer Paul Elwood, a mini-opera based on the life of film star Hedy Lamarr (b. 1914, d. 2000) is scored for soprano, mezzo-soprano, flute, and piano. The opera will be presented in twenty-four one-minute segments, to be released weekly on Instagram and YouTube over a 24-week period in 2022. The YouTube links will remain active indefinitely. We plan to film the opera in the spring of 2022 and need to secure funds by September 2021 to enable effective planning . The online, short format, is unique to operatic presentation and may potentially reach thousands of viewers.
The funds will be used to pay the singers, musicians, film crew, space/set rental and film director. Filming will begin in March, 2022, hoping that COVID-19 will be manageable by this time. This project is a long-time dream of composer Paul Elwood and your support will enable the opera to become a reality. It will make it possible for the cast and filmmakers to tell the story of Austrian-born Hedy Lamarr who not only made significant contributions as an actress, but gave generously to the United States, her adopted country, during World War II and beyond.
Paul Elwood, composer
Lamarr was a Hollywood actress who attained her position through self-assuredness, courage, and intelligence. She turned her off-camera focus to inventing. Most significantly, she is known for creating, in collaboration with composer George Antheil, a frequency-hopping device so that Allied torpedo paths in World War II could not be jammed by the enemy. Lamarr’s position as an actress (and her gender) caused her work to be treated with patronizing disdain by the military establishment; this patented idea was tabled and forgotten until the 1960s. Lamarr and Antheil were finally recognized by the Electronic Frontier Foundation in 1997 and, in 2014, they were inducted into the US National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Hedy Lamarr: Snow White Under the Knife chronicles her career from her first major film, "Ecstasy," through the end of her acting career in 1958 through retirement, a series of personal tragedies including divorce, disastrous plastic surgeries, shoplifting charges, and isolation. Yet, she had a resilient attitude, in later life telling her children that they should give the best to life that they can—life will "kick you in the teeth," but give it anyway.
Project performers include soprano Sharon Harms, mezzo-soprano, Caitlin Moore, pianist, Kathleen Supove, and flutist, Margaret Lancaster. The film will be directed by Helen Drizhal.
The funds will be used to pay the singers, musicians, film crew, space/set rental and film director. Filming will begin in March, 2022, hoping that COVID-19 will be manageable by this time. This project is a long-time dream of composer Paul Elwood and your support will enable the opera to become a reality. It will make it possible for the cast and filmmakers to tell the story of Austrian-born Hedy Lamarr who not only made significant contributions as an actress, but gave generously to the United States, her adopted country, during World War II and beyond.
Paul Elwood, composerLamarr was a Hollywood actress who attained her position through self-assuredness, courage, and intelligence. She turned her off-camera focus to inventing. Most significantly, she is known for creating, in collaboration with composer George Antheil, a frequency-hopping device so that Allied torpedo paths in World War II could not be jammed by the enemy. Lamarr’s position as an actress (and her gender) caused her work to be treated with patronizing disdain by the military establishment; this patented idea was tabled and forgotten until the 1960s. Lamarr and Antheil were finally recognized by the Electronic Frontier Foundation in 1997 and, in 2014, they were inducted into the US National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Hedy Lamarr: Snow White Under the Knife chronicles her career from her first major film, "Ecstasy," through the end of her acting career in 1958 through retirement, a series of personal tragedies including divorce, disastrous plastic surgeries, shoplifting charges, and isolation. Yet, she had a resilient attitude, in later life telling her children that they should give the best to life that they can—life will "kick you in the teeth," but give it anyway.
Project performers include soprano Sharon Harms, mezzo-soprano, Caitlin Moore, pianist, Kathleen Supove, and flutist, Margaret Lancaster. The film will be directed by Helen Drizhal.
Organizer
Paul Elwood
Organizer
Greeley, CO