In Hey Viola!, Vancouver songstress and actor Krystle Dos Santos, with support from local musicians Chris Davis, Steven Charles, and Jen Lewin, brings Viola Desmond to life on stage through the dynamic, inspirational music that filled the home of this civil rights trailblazer. Using the musical format enriches the telling of her amazing and powerful story, ultimately an important Canadian story.

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 fire within this successful Black Canadian businesswoman gave her the courage and confidence to stand up to systemic racial injustice in Canada?