Oliver Samuels’ latest play, “Puppy Love,” will be staged in Hartford, Brooklyn, Washington, D.C.; Queens, N.J. and Bronx from Oct. 22-31 after successful performances across the UK, Canada, Guyana and several Caribbean islands.
“Puppy Love” is written by Patrick Brown and directed by Trevor Nairne. The cast consists of Oliver Samuels, Dahlia Harris, Earle Brown and Natalee Cole.
Like other Oliver Samuels-Patrick Brown plays, “Puppy Love” is for the entire family and this thrilling romantic comedy has won rave reviews in the British press.
The venues and dates in N.Y. and tri-state areas are:
Hartford, CT, Weaver, Friday, Oct. 22, 8:00 p.m.
Brooklyn College, Saturday, Oct. 23, 8:00 p.m.
Washington, D.C., UDC, Sunday, Oct. 24, 6:00 p.m.
Queens, N.Y., York College, Friday, Oct. 29, 8:00 p.m.
East Orange, N.J., Cicely Tyson Center, Saturday, Oct. 30, 8:00 p.m.
Bronx, N.Y., Lehman College, Sunday, Oct. 31, 6:00 p.m.
When Oliver went to Grenada a decade ago to participate in a fundraising drive to build a new hospital, Oliver was mobbed by shoppers when he visited the town of Grenville to purchase spices in the Market Place.
From Antigua to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Oliver has performed and it was not a surprise when “Puppy Love” had sold out audiences performances last April in Guyana.
When Dahlia Harris made her debut in a Patrick Brown play, she immediately had an impact. Suddenly, Dahlia Harris, also a TV newscaster, disappeared from the international stage allowing fans to ask, “What happen to Dahlia Harris?” The answer was always simple. She is on stage in Jamaica starring in local productions by various theatrical companies. Ms. Harris is back touring internationally as the upper middleclass, educated and community spirited wife of Dick (Oliver Samuels) in “Puppy Love.”
Earle Brown is a veteran of the stage in Jamaica but his other responsibilities have prevented him from going on international tours. If “Puppy Love” was a Broadway production in the U.S., Brown would certainly have won a Tony Award. His character as Harry, the distraught father of Karen (Natalee Cole), is brilliant.
“Ever since Natalee was a toddler she was acting and the family is not surprised that she has taken up the theater as her profession,” one of her cousins in New York remarked.
Almost every year Natalee Cole is listed on the Work Visa to perform in North America because she is an understudy and is expected to replace one of the featured actresses in the event the actress is sick or cannot tour. There were no problems so Natalee never toured. This time Natalee is not an understudy. She has a major role in “Puppy Love” and has impressed fans from the Bahamas to the U.K. It is a great challenge for Natalee who is still in her early twenties to play alongside the veteran Oliver Samuels.
The year 2010, and the staging of “Puppy Love” in the tri-state, symbolizes 20 years of joint production and unity between Oliver Samuels and Herman Hall, publisher of EVERYBODY’S, the Caribbean-American Magazine.
“The first Oliver show we presented was on July 21, 1990 and since then we have worked with Oliver each year, sometimes presenting more than one production in a year,” said Hall.
“I can’t believe it is 20 years since working with Herman Hall. He is a promoter I’m very, very comfortable with and trust very much. But, I must thank the fans because they are the ones who are responsible for 20 years of collaboration,” Oliver said.
As a result, $400 will be given to a lucky fan at each of the six performances in celebration of the 20th anniversary (1990-2010) of productions between Oliver Samuels and EVERYBODY’S Magazine. Each person in the audience at each show is eligible to get the $400.
