The end is near for Madea as Tyler Perry announced Thursday that he’s taking his favorite girl on the road for the very last time.Perry announced that Madea would be starring in Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Farewell Play Tour, kicking off next year. It marks Perry’s 21st stage play.“We’re gonna say goodbye in ’19,” Perry said in a statement. “I just don’t want to be her age playing her.”
The nationwide tour will kick off in Oakland, California on January 18, and travel over the course of four months.Longtime fans of Perry’s shows will see familiar faces like Tamela Mann, David Mann, and Cassi Davis in the cast. The comedian, actor, and producer announced last month that he had already planned to say goodbye to his most famous character.“This is it,” he told SiriusXM radio host Bevy Smith on her show Bevelations. “It’s time for me to kill that old b****. I’m tired!”According to Perry, Madea will make her final bow in the upcoming film, Tyler Perry’s a Madea Family Funeral, due out in March. It will be the eighth Madea film in the popular franchise and the eleventh film in which Perry’s portrayal of Madea has appeared.Tickets to the January shows of Madea’s Farewell Play Tour are on sale Friday at 12 p.m. PT on Ticketmaster, with more dates being announced at a later date.