Madea Goes On Hiatus: Tyler Perry’s Taking A “Long Break” From Doing Plays In Drag

August 15th, 2012 - By Alissa Henry
"Madea"

Source: boxofficemojo.com

If you’re wanting to see Madea live then you better catch her on her last tour because Tyler Perry says that he is taking a hiatus from Madea to focus on other aspects of his career.

Earlier this week, Tyler posted a message to his fans on his website:

I don’t know if you remember this or not, but around 2005 I took off from touring my Madea plays for about 5 years. During that time, I was working mostly on movies and TV shows. Well, as much as I love to be out on stage and doing a live Madea show, the time has come again for me to take a long break from the stage. I have some major projects that I’m working on that will require a lot of my time and effort. Just know that I did not want to stop this tour until I had hit as many cities as possible. So I’m going to finish out this Fall leg of the tour and then take a long break.

The “Fall leg” he is talking about is his newest stage play “Madea Gets A Job [at a retirement home]” which begins on September 20th.

He says ” I have some major projects that I’m working on that will require a lot of my time and effort.” Movies, television shows and stage plays are all major projects by themselves, so how he balances all of that at once is mystifying. However, he must be working on something pretty big if he is quitting the plays.

Tyler didn’t elaborate, but IndieWire.com speculates:

So… what could these “major projects” he mentions be?…He was launching his own TV network, although no word on when exactly it’ll make its debut.

What else? He did say in an interview at the end of June that he was working on a sci-fi movie at the time, after expressing disappointment with Prometheus. Although he didn’t say what we can expect from his planned adventure into sci-fi. But that could also certainly be a major project, as sci-fi films tend to be.

What else? Dancing With The Stars alum William Levy revealed about a month ago that he’ll be starring in an upcoming Tyler Perry movie – a romantic comedy, that he said would begin shooting in September. However, less than a month from September, there has been no official announcement of a project.

And looking over his IMDBPro page, the only definite project listed that Perry has yet to shoot is Take My Wife, which was announced last year, and which he’s supposed to star alongside Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The story centers on a recently-divorced man who tries to avoid paying alimony, by grooming another dude to become his ex’s new husband. Tyler Perry is listed as writer and director as well; although it’s not known which of the 2 men he’ll play.

He’s also supposed to be on America’s Next Top Model providing the “acting challenge” to the contestants.

Mable “Madea” Simmons has been good to Tyler Perry financially over the years, but she’s also been a major source of criticism. Now that he is getting other opportunities, we wouldn’t be surprised if he hung up the dress and fake boobs for good.

What do you think? Are you disappointed that he’s taking a break from Madea stage plays?

Follow Alissa on Twitter @AlissaInPink

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  • keeping it real

    Please let it be a permanent break, we in the black community are over Madea. It was fun while it lasted but you can do so much better.

  • Treacle234

    Thank the lawd, this was great move. I hated the Madea character

  • Treacle234

    Thank the lawd, this was great move. I hated the Madea character

  • Ms_Sunshine9898

    the plays are entertaining, but the movies are a down right mess. it’s time for him to start evolving. . .

  • MLS2698

    I like Tyler Perry’s plays, but I’m starting to get real suspicious about him dressing as Madea. Don’t get me wrong, the character is great, but sometimes I wonder exactly how she was created, and if it satisfies another need.

  • NEEMA

    i honestly prefer Madea in movies not on stage

  • realadulttalk

    Thank goodness!!

  • Anon

    Tyler Perry should extend his long break from drag to………. forever. What a clown.

  • ShortNSassy34

    I’m actually glad that he’s taking a break. His last play Aunt Bam’s Place was a major fail. It didn’t have a plot and didn’t make a lot of sense. His tv shows have really fallen off lately too so it’s probably for the best that he’s taking a break.

  • http://www.facebook.com/lashton Leah Ashton

    he has done it before so what is the big deal? I love that he does this, but i would like to see other things from him. It would be cool to see him try other genres of film, like sci fi, or even a romantic comedy. I wish him much success. Martin Laurence and Eddie Murphy haven’t used characters in a long time. I think the last one Eddie did was that big chick in Norbert.

  • queenbe2u

    Wow its amazing how many black people hate on his success! I actually support him and cant wait for his alter ego Madea to come out of hiatus. Stereotypical or not there’s a blessing in each lesson that he teaches and at least his movies have substance. I can relate because I know a lot of his characters are people that exist in my family.

    • Gye Nyame

      Just because someone dislikes a Tyler Perry film doesn’t make them a “hater”. In fact I love Tyler Perry but I dislike his films. I’m glad you can identify with his characters, but I can’t, and I think that was the point I was trying to make. Perry has a following with people that can identify with some of his characters, and then there are some people like me that would like to see myself or my family reflected in his films. Its not too much to ask of an artist because contrary to popular belief all black people are not alike and we don’t all think alike.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_JAI4SRENU2A5WKRTELXXYJPDSI Kayla

    YESSS THANK YOU !!

  • DoinMe

    OMG Thank you!! I can’t with Madea anymore. Whatever happened to the movie with Kim Kardashian that was supposed to be coming out? Seems like he has A LOT going on, maybe too much, which has always been an issue for me about Tyler Perry. It seems like he’s more concerned about cranking out movie after movie, project after project, while the quality of work suffers. Maybe he needs to take his own personal hiatus for awhile to get refocused and come back bigger and better.

    • http://www.facebook.com/lashton Leah Ashton

      that is the movie version of the marriage counselor and it comes out it in the fall i think.

  • ashley79

    Thank God! Now, if someone would just tell Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy to do the same

  • Gye Nyame

    I’m actually happy that he’s going to put the loud mouth, big breasted, black woman sterotypical character to rest, even if it is for a little while. I think Perry has made enough money and developed a decent following to allow him to branch out and be more creative as an artist. The one dimensional, sterotypical characters with the predicatble plot and storylines have a lot of people wanting/expecting more from Perry..

    • http://twitter.com/MadameGigglez Bubblez

      me too, however the article didnt say he was killing off Mable B.K.A. Madea; he was giving her a rest.

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