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Before “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” outraged critics and entertained audiences Tyler Perry had a series of successful plays involving his creation of Madea the perpetual badass grandmother. In “Madea’s Class Reunion” Tyler’s most popular creation doesn’t appear until nearly half way into the production (until the second act). Madea along with Brown ( played by David Mann who turns out to be the father of Madea’s daughter from a youthful tryst while they were in high school)from “Meet the Browns” and others deal with a variety of issues while staying at a hotel including loss of faith, infidelity and domestic absuse. Madea’s there for her 50 year class reunion and Although this is’t a musical per se, it has a number of strong musical numbers performed by Perry’s usual cast in gospel style. Taped in 2003 in a performance at Detroit’s Fox Theater, Perry and his cast continue to entertain even when the written material isn’t always up to snuff. ***

Although it’s entertaining, the show can’t escape its stage bound origins. No matter how many times Perry shifts the perspective from one camera to another, we’re seeing a filmed stage play. That’s not a bad thing (particularly for fans who saw the performances)

We get a brief introduction by Tyler Perry for the video. Although it’s not quite as extensive as “Diary of a Mad Black Woman”, it’s better than a lot of DVDs being released now. The behind-the-scenes footage doesn’t add anything to the show. It’s primarily there for selling purposes. There’s deleted/alternate footage including a blooper section that’s quite funny. We also get a behind-the-scenes photo gallery and trailers for the “Tyler Perry Collection” ---