Interview: An Inside Scoop with Krystle Dos Santos: the Star of HEY VIOLA!

Returning from a long period of dormancy, theatre makes a comeback in Vancouver: better and safer than ever! At the Anvil Centre, the show: HEY VIOLA! Viola Desmond - the Soundtrack of a Life will play from October 15th to 25th. This production follows the life of Canadian civil rights activist: Viola Desmond highlighting her fight against racial injustice in Nova Scotia. Starring Krystle Dos Santos (Co-Creator) as Viola and direction by Tracey Power (Co-Creator), HEY VIOLA also incorporates 15 songs from Desmond's era. With musical accompaniment from local musicians Steven Charles (guitar/bass), Chris Davis (trumpet, drums, and piano), and Mary Ancheta (keyboard), Dos Santos will sing the night away while telling the story of a woman who sparked a movement across Canada. I had the pleasure of chatting with Krystle Dos Santos touching on Viola's life, the creative process, and her favourite parts of the show! Read the full interview below!

"HEY VIOLA!" is a cabaret style one-woman show about the life of Viola Desmond (Canadian civil rights activist). Who is Viola Desmond and why is it important that we learn about her story?

Viola Desmond was an incredibly successful businesswoman who had such wide scopes for Black women in the beauty industry. She broke grounds with the beauty industry by creating a school and having her own salons that turned into a franchise. Viola wanted to create opportunities of employment for Black women beyond domestic means. Overall, she was very ahead of her time in terms of the way she thought and how she was so driven to succeed.

Viola Desmond is also known as one of Canada's civil rights icons because of a massive incident that happened to her in 1946 in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. She is well known for fighting a case of segregation when she went to a movie theatre. Viola sat in the "Whites only" section, which she was unaware of because there were no markings indicating it at the theatre. The theatre was enforcing these rules, which wasn't a law, but more of a choice on their part. Due to this, she was dragged out of the movie by a police officer, thrown in jail, and charged with tax evasion for not paying one penny of tax. There were 2 seating sections: 30 cents upstairs and 40 cents for downstairs. The taxes were 3 cents for the 40-cent seats and 2 cents for the 30-cent seats. Basically, they somehow concocted a case against Viola saying that she was evading the tax with this incident. In addition, when they dragged her out of the movie theatre, they injured her hip and she got bruises from the force used. One of the reasons why she pursued this further was because the doctor that she saw afterwards told her that her injuries were pretty severe and that what she went through was pretty violent. Her fight against this case was one of the largest rallying cases for Eastern Canada. It really sparked a civil rights movement in Canada and it actually happened nearly a decade before what Rosa Parks did in the United States! In 2010, for the first time in Canadian history, they gave her a posthumous pardon and took that charge away. The whole incident ultimately changed the trajectory of her life. It's pretty crazy that this sort of thing existed and that it's sort of skimmed over in our Canadian history. On the whole, that is who she is! She gives me chills and she was such an amazing woman!

It's important to tell this story because stories like Viola Desmond's don't really get told. They are so important, massive, and pivotal in our civil rights history yet somehow they have to be told in the form of a play as entertainment in order to get into the minds and hearts of the people.

As one of the two creators of HEY VIOLA, how did you and Tracey Power come up with the idea for this show?

Tracey is so cool! She has an incredible catalogue of work as a choreographer and writer. She has this show called "Chelsea Hotel" which she asked me to come audition for. I auditioned, was offered a role in it, and was a part of it in 2018. The idea for "HEY VIOLA" must have been brewing in her mind for a little bit and we ended up discussing it over lunch one day. I was aware of Viola Desmond's $10 bill being released and we talked about this before the official release date. Tracey told me that she wanted to know more about Viola and why she was going to be on the $10 bill/ what was her story. We started researching this together and Tracey said, "maybe we should make a show about her!" Tracey pitched that I could be Viola and that she wanted to work together to bring the show to life/ shine a light on her story! It was really Tracey's seed planting that got the ball rolling.

As music is my strong suit, we agreed that it would be my role to do the music research. I found a bunch of songs from Viola's era that sat with the story. At the beginning, I probably had around 50 songs to start and ended up narrowing it down to the 15 that I sing in the show! Tracey did the writing part of the show and together we both researched as much as we could about Viola. I was even blessed to have a short phone call with Viola's sister: Wanda Robson! Wanda was 93 at the time and she said to me: "I'm really busy because I'm writing a book and have a lot to get done, so unfortunately I can't contribute, but you have my full blessing!" That was a very cool conversation to have and she sounded as young and sprite as ever! I read her book called "Sister To Courage" and it was incredible! She has her own amazing story of living in a racially unequal time!

Tracey planted the seed, we slowly worked on it, and then she came to me with the story. The first time I read it, I was balling and absolutely touched and moved by how she had taken facts and really spun them into a personal account. Pretty much everything that we say in the show is of accurate historic account, but she put it together in a way that allows Viola to talk through me in the show. The creative process has been so positive!

There are 15 songs that you will sing throughout the show. How do these songs complement the telling of Viola Desmond's story? What is your favourite song to sing in the show?

I started with a massive catalogue knowing that the songs needed to be within the time frame of her life. We tell the story starting from the early beginnings of her life all the way until her death in 1965. Starting with the opening song, we went back really early to one that she would have heard when she was young. It was stated in one of the books that we read that she liked to listen to "The Ink Spots" and "The Mills Brothers," so we knew that those artists were a part of her world. During the time frame of her life there were so many songs that really subtly (or explicitly) told of the racial situation. For example, I was unaware that "Sunny Side of the Street" was a song that referenced how the Blacks needed to walk on the sunny side of the street because the Whites did not want to be in the sunshine on a hot summer day. There were a lot of songs that had references to civil rights movements. For example "A Change Is Gonna Come," "Sinnerman," and "Mississippi Goddam" were songs that explicitly talked about things that happened during Viola Desmond's lifetime in which she likely and hopefully would have heard and been touched by.

In terms of my favourite song, I enjoy all of them, but I have an emotional connection to "Sinnerman." It perfectly weaves into the story of the movie theatre incident and truly feels like it was meant to be the soundtrack of that moment. The placement and emotion of that song is so palpable and is the main reason why it is my favourite song to sing in the show. I get so emotional when I hear or sing that song, especially with the mind-set of that event in time happening.

What makes HEY VIOLA different from other shows that you have done?

It is totally different! It not only tells a story that you want to be a part of and that people can relate to, but it really allows you to get to know a person who went through something so real. It is truly biographical, but at the same time it is so personal. That personal connection is what really gives it the impact on the audience. HEY VIOLA gives the audience the opportunity to see themselves within her story. Any kind of personal connection makes things go a lot deeper and I think that is what makes this show really special.

Another reason why HEY VIOLA is so special is that we are shining a light on real incidences that happened in Canada. As much as Canadians and Canadian History likes to sort of skim over certain details of things, I think that it is a really important moment for us to see real parts of our history. For example, even if we can just see just the businesswoman part of it (which again I find so inspiring)! This woman not only opened her own salon, but also started a successful beauty salon franchise in the midst of the racial segregation of her time. Her story is just so rich with information that I think is necessary for everyone (especially Canadians) to know. The show highlights the wonderful, successful people Canada breeds while also showing some of the ugly moments that happened as well.

What is the format of the show?

The show is not technically musical theatre, but is similar. The general idea of musical theatre to me is that during points in a show when the emotion gets so strong, the character can't help but burst into song to fully express how they are feeling. The songs in HEY VIOLA are placed in the same sort of way. The show starts with a song, then we go into a few memories until we hit a trigger point, which starts another song. Furthermore, a moment could happen where there is a shift, which is told by another song. Different moments in Viola's life are expressed with music. This show is not a soundtrack of songs from her time with a few stories in between; it is woven together in a way that flows! The music truly supports every moment of the story. The emotions are fully considered and deliberately woven in. In learning the show, I use the songs as cues just for my own memory because they are spring pads for every part that is coming up or for what just happened. I find them very useful on the technical side and the order of them is the perfect way to tell the story.

HEY VIOLA opens at the Anvil Centre in New Westminster on October 15th. Why should people come see the show?

People should come see the show for the beautiful music and to learn about one of Canada's most powerful stories of civil rights activism. Additionally, they should come to meet and get to know a woman who was way beyond her time. Finally, people should come out to feel the energy of audiences and live entertainment again. The show is going to be done very responsibly and I am so excited about that! This show is extra special because it is cabaret style, so they have both tables and theatre seating set up. It is going to be a really cool atmosphere and I think we all need a little sunshine and personal reflection. With the massive awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement, this is so in alignment with where our society is right now! It's amazing how things change so much and also don't change at all in certain ways. This show is positioned in the perfect timing of where we are at right now so that we can not only see where we're at, but also where we have come from!

HEY VIOLA! Viola Desmond - the Soundtrack of a Life will be playing at the Anvil Centre from October 15th to 25th, 2020. Tickets are $50 (plus service charges) and are available at anvilcentre.com.

Photo Credit: David Cooper