Radiant

Radiant centers around early 20th century musical radical and multi-hyphenate George Antheil and his unlikely friendship with movie star Hedy Lamarr. Despite their day jobs in entertainment, the two possessed an intense desire to defeat the Nazis and thus invented and patented a secret communications system in 1941 which sketched out the principle of frequency hopping which is used in most cell phones today. Their invention proved crucial to the development of modern communications as we know it, paving the way for wireless phones, Bluetooth, GPS and Wi-Fi technology itself. As a composer, Antheil was known for his jazzy symphony virtuoso piano sonatas such as Ballet Mecanique, which drew raves and riles in Berlin and Paris during the 1920s. He was labeled by critics as a misguided genius and publicity hound. During the 1926 premiere of Ballet Mecanique in Paris, a riot broke out at the Theatre du Champs Elysées. The score called for 16 player pianos, three xylophones, four bass drums, a tam-tam, two grand pianos, seven bells, a fire siren, and three airplane propellers.