Producer, actor Tyler Perry to take ‘Madea’ play on the road in 2010 after mother’s death

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Perry to take ‘Madea’ play on the road in 2010

ATLANTA — Movie producer and actor Tyler Perry says he is taking his sharp-tongued character “Madea” back on tour.

Perry posted a message on his Web site Saturday that said he had taken some time off in the past few months “so I could spend my mother’s final days at her side.” His mother, Willie Maxine Perry, died Dec. 8 at age 64.

Perry says he will begin touring with his new play, “Madea’s Big Happy Family,” the iron-willed Southern matriarch he portrays in a wig and padded suit. She is the central character of many of his films, including “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail.”

The actor says he is eager to have Madea on stage for the first time in five years. The first leg of the tour begins Jan. 4 in El Paso, Texas, then goes on to Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle and Portland, Ore.