Gateway Theatre brings Hey Viola! to the stage from April 13 to 22

Singer-actress Krystle Dos Santos tells story of Viola Desmond’s life in cabaret-style performance

SPONSORED POST BY Gateway Theatre

Hey Viola! Photo by Murray Mitchell

Gateway Theatre invites audiences to see the critically-acclaimed musical Hey Viola! from April 13 to 22, with opening night on April 14.

A smashing tour-de-force performance by Vancouver-based jazz and blues singer Krystle Dos Santos, Hey Viola! tells the story of Viola Desmond, a Black civil rights trailblazer that made history for standing up to systemic racial injustices when she refused to leave the whites-only section of Nova Scotia’s Roseland Theatre in 1946.

Co-created by Dos Santos and director Tracey Power, Hey Viola! explores Desmond’s life and the events that shaped her—from the 1917 Halifax ship explosion, to the civil rights struggles of the 1950s, to her successful career as a businesswoman and beautician.

The show will feature a live soundtrack led by musical director and bassist-guitarist Steve Charles, with pianist Mary Ancheta, and drummer-trumpeter Chris Davis. It will draw upon a collection of dynamic songs from the era by Nina Simone, Sam Cooke, The Mills Brothers, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Richard M. Jones, and more.

Tickets start at $35 and can be purchased at Gateway Theatre.

Post sponsored by Gateway Theatre.