After 20 years of entertaining folks in Middle Georgia, Tyler Perry’s ‘Madea’ is retiring

Madea is coming to Macon on Sunday to say goodbye.

The character created and played by Tyler Perry for the 1999 play “I Can Do Bad All by Myself” has been a mainstay as Perry built his Atlanta-based media empire during the last 20 years.

But Perry is closing the curtain on Madea, and her local farewell will be at two live shows of “Tyler Perry’s Madea Farewell Play Tour,“ one Sunday at 3 p.m. and the other at 7:30 p.m., at the Macon Coliseum.

Following her stage introduction, “Mabel ‘Madea’ Simmons,” her family, friends — and notably her enemies — have been featured in 10 more plays, almost a dozen successful films, an animated feature, a book and on TV.

With Perry himself reaching the same age as he created the older woman to be back when he was 30, he has said in press releases and interviews he’s ready to quit dressing up and pretending to portray a black woman his own age and thinks the cantankerous, loving, always meaning-to-do-good Madea has said all she has to say.

For now.

In a letter in The New York Times on Feb. 19 last year, Perry said, “… I wrestled for a while with the question of the right time to end the character. But then I thought — tThis is the year I’m turning 50. There’s much more I want to do, so many more stories I want to tell and more roles I want to play. I was thrilled to be Colin Powell in ‘Vice’ and Tanner Bolt in ‘Gone Girl,’ and I’m looking forward to more opportunities like those. But that old broad has been good to me, so who knows — maybe one day I’ll tell the story of Madea in the ’70s and hire a real actress to play the role.”

Madea has been a popular entertainment figure in Macon with Perry appearing on stage and in films through the years.

“We are ecstatic to welcome Tyler Perry and the Madea farewell tour to Macon,” said David Aiello, Spectra General Manager at the Macon Centreplex. Spectra manages shows for the Macon Coliseum/Centreplex and Auditorium. “Tyler Perry has done so much for the state of Georgia that it’s an honor to be able to support this final Madea performance — and we look forward to his new projects to come.”

The Madea play is Perry’s 21 stage play thus far in total and the Madea farewell tour is set to end in May at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre.

Madea’s film farewell came in 2019 in “A Madea Family Funeral.” The film was set in backwoods Georgia and the funeral was not hers.

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“Tyler Perry’s Madea Farewell Play Tour”

Where: Macon Coliseum/Centreplex, 200 Coliseum Dr.

When: 3 p.m., 7:30 p.m. Jan. 19

Cost: $47- $133

For more information: www.maconcentreplex.org/events, (478) 803-1593

Up and coming

Here’s a sampling of more events coming in the next few days. For other area happenings, check www.macon365.com.

▪ The Night Birds — 8 p.m. Jan 18, music presented by The Society Garden at The Society Garden, 2389 Ingleside Ave., www.thesocietygarden.com.

▪ Monroe Crossing — 7:30 p.m. Jan. 21, bluegrass music presented by Acoustic Productions at Howard Community Center, 5645 Forsyth Rd., www.acousticproductions.com. $25-$30

▪ Yi-Nu Wang — 7 p.m. Jan. 21, pianist presented by Wesleyan College and Macon Concert Association at Wesleyan College’s Burden Parlor, Olive Swann Porter Building, 4760 Forsyth Rd., (478) 757-5137. $10-$25.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com.