Created by Tracey Power & Krystle Dos Santos
** Covid guidelines enforced – details on website
After months of being closed, Anvil Centre is thrilled to raise the curtain, light up the stage and present the premiere of Hey Viola!, a musical exploration of Canadian Civil Rights hero, Viola Desmond, which will play from Oct. 15 – 25. Set in a cabaret style, this one woman show could not be more relevant in this time of Civil Rights, Black Lives Matter, and Women’s Rights movements. But who is Viola Desmond…? other than the newest face on Canada’s ten-dollar bill. She is best known for her courage in refusing to leave the whites-only section of Nova Scotia’s Roseland cinema in 1946; a decision that made history, but she was also a feminist and beauty product icon. What was the fire within this successful black Canadian businesswoman that gave her the courage and confidence to stand up to systemic racial injustices in Canada?
In Hey Viola!, Vancouver songstress and performer Krystle Dos Santos, with the support of local musicians Chris Davis, Steven Charles and Mary Ancheta, brings the life of Viola Desmond to the stage using the dynamic and inspirational music that filled the home of this trailblazer of the civil rights movement. Using the musical format enriches the telling of her amazing and powerful story, and ultimately an important Canadian story.
Teaming up to create this work are two immense talents: Tracey Power, Co-creator and Director, who created Glory, Chelsea Hotel, The Songs of Leonard Cohen and the musical Miss Shakespeare and Krystle Dos Santos, an extraordinary actor, blues, jazz and soul singer and creator of “BLAK”, exploring Canada’s Black history.
With brilliant hits of the era, and songs that influenced history; “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”, “A Change is Gonna Come”, “Sinnerman”, and “Mississippi Goddam”, this personal, and powerful cabaret, gives audiences an opportunity to discover how the actions of one woman played such a huge role in a movement that Krystle herself continues today.
The health and safety of our patrons is our top priority and our theatre seating has been modified to meet all COVD-19 protocols. Anvil Centre Theatre’s physically distanced cabaret seating plan Anvil-Cabaret-SD-50 2 will be a new experience that will be engaging and safe.
Please click here to review Anvil Centre’s complete COVID-10 Healthy & Safety Protocols https://2q2wrv15f2369r5qu1jncibf-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AC-COVID-Protocols-Client-Information.pdf