One of contemporary Hollywood’s most prolific leading men will be on tour through the early months of 2010 with his own traveling theatrical production.
Funnyman Tyler Perry will showcase his latest play structured around his well-known Madea character, “Madea’s Big Happy Family.” The U.S. theater tour launches January 4 at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, TX, and concludes with a May 6-9 run at Fox Theatre in Detroit, MI.
While many markets on the U.S. tour will host the production for only one night, several have booked multiple-night engagements. Some of Perry’s extended runs include January 19-24 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, CA; January 27-31 at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY; March 2-6 at Chicago Theatre in Chicago, IL; March 12-14 at Nokia Theatre in Grand Prairie, TX; and April 15-18 at Fox Theatre in Atlanta, GA.
“Madea’s Big Happy Family” is Perry’s first theatrical tour in five years. His first major stage production, “I Know I’ve Been Changed,” launched more than a decade ago in 1998, and was followed yearly by new productions including this year’s “Laugh to Keep from Crying.”
“All I want to say is that if you have not seen ‘Madea’ live on stage you haven’t seen Madea at all,” Perry wrote in the announcement on his official Web site. “In the movies, I’m limited but on stage….FREEEEDDOMMMM!!!”
Though “Madea’s Big Happy Family” has been planned for a while, the production’s status was unclear following the December 8 death of the screenwriter-producer-actor’s mother, Willie Maxine Perry, 64. Perry had credited his mother with being “the wisdom of Madea” in a 2006 interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“As you know, my mother was the apple of my eye, so [her death] has been difficult to say the least,” Perry commented in his tour announcement, adding, “All I’ll say is this, take care of your mothers…you only get one.”
‘Madea’s Big Happy Family’ itinerary:
(Dates are subject to change.)
| January 4 | El Paso, TX | UTEP Don Haskins Center |
| January 5 | Phoenix, AZ | Dodge Theatre |
| January 6 | San Diego, CA | San Diego Sports Arena |
| January 9 | Seattle, WA | KeyArena |
| January 10 | Portland, OR | Memorial Coliseum |
| January 12 | Fresno, CA | Selland Arena |
| January 13 | Sacramento, CA | ARCO Arena |
| January 14 -16 | Oakland, CA | Paramount Theatre |
| January 19 – 24 | Hollywood, CA | Kodak Theatre |
| January 27 – 31 | New York, NY | Theater at Madison Square Garden |
| February 1 | Florence, SC | Florence Civic Center |
| February 3 – 5 | Raleigh, NC | RBC Center |
| February 6 | Fayetteville, NC | Crown Coliseum |
| February 7 | Charlotte, NC | Bojangles Coliseum |
| February 9 | Macon, GA | Macon Centreplex |
| February 10 – 11 | North Charleston, SC | North Charleston Coliseum |
| February 12 – 13 | Columbia, SC | Colonial Life Arena |
| February 14 | Columbus, GA | Columbus Civic Center |
| February 16 – 17 | Jacksonville, FL | Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena |
| February 18 | Chattanooga, TN | Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Auditorium |
| February 19 – 20 | Winston-Salem, NC | Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum |
| February 21 | Richmond, VA | Richmond Coliseum |
| February 23 | Albany, NY | Civic Center |
| February 24 – 25 | Nashville, TN | Nashville Municipal Auditorium |
| February 27 – 28 | Memphis, TN | Orpheum Theatre |
| March 2 – 6 | Chicago, IL | Arie Crown Theater |
| March 9 | Minneapolis, MN | Target Center |
| March 10 | Omaha, NE | Qwest Center Omaha |
| March 11 | Wichita, KS | Century II Performing Arts & Convention Center |
| March 12 – 14 | Grand Prairie, TX | Nokia Theatre |
| March 16 | Milwaukee, WI | U.S. Cellular Arena |
| March 18 | Bridgeport, CT | Arena At Harbor Yard |
| March 19 – 21 | Hartford, CT | Bushnell Center for Performing Arts |
| March 24 | Augusta, GA | James Brown Arena |
| March 25 | Greenville, SC | Bi-Lo Center |
| March 27 | Birmingham, AL | BJCC Arena |
| March 28 | Mobile, AL | Mobile Civic Center |
| April 6 | Dayton, OH | Ervin J. Nutter Center |
| April 7 | Cincinnati, OH | Cintas Center |
| April 8 | Louisville, KY | Freedom Hall |
| April 13 – 14 | Savannah, GA | Savannah Civic Center |
| April 15 – 18 | Atlanta, GA | Fox Theatre |
| April 20 – 21 | Norfolk, VA | Constant Convocation Center |
| April 23 – 24 | St. Louis, MO | Chaifetz Arena |
| April 25 | Kansas City, MO | Sprint Center |
| April 27 | Buffalo, NY | HSBC Arena |
| April 29 | Philadelphia, PA | The Liacouras Center |
| May 4 | Columbus, OH | Nationwide Arena |
| May 5 | Toledo, OH | Lucas County Arena |
| May 6 – 9 | Detroit, MI | Fox Theatre |