![]() ![]() Perry continued to create new stage productions, touring with them on the so-called " Chitlin' Circuit" (now also known as the "urban theater circuit") and developing a large, devoted following among African-American audiences. In 1998, at age 28, he succeeded in retooling the play and restaging it in Atlanta, first at the House of Blues, then at the Fox Theatre. Perry persisted, and over the next six years he rewrote the musical repeatedly, though lackluster reviews continued. The musical initially received a "less than stellar" reception and was a financial failure. The play included Christian themes of forgiveness, dignity, and self-worth, while addressing issues such as child abuse and dysfunctional families. Career Stage Īround 1990, Perry moved to Atlanta, where two years later I Know I've Been Changed was first performed at a community theater, financed by the 22-year-old Perry's $12,000 life savings. He soon started writing a series of letters to himself, which became the basis for the musical I Know I've Been Changed. This comment inspired him to apply himself to a career in writing. In his early 20s, watching an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, he heard someone describe the sometimes therapeutic effect the act of writing can have, enabling the author to work out his or her own problems. While Perry did not complete high school, he earned a GED. A DNA test taken by Perry indicated that Emmitt Sr. Many years later, after seeing the film Precious, Perry was moved to reveal for the first time that he had been molested by a friend's mother at age 10 he was also molested by three men prior to this and later learned his own father had molested his friend. ![]() At age 16, he had his first name legally changed from Emmitt to Tyler in an effort to distance himself from his father. In contrast to his father, his mother took him to church each week, where he sensed a certain refuge and contentment. As a child, Perry once went so far as to attempt suicide in an effort to escape his father's beatings. Perry once said his father's answer to everything was to "beat it out of you". in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of Willie Maxine Perry ( née Campbell) and Emmitt Perry Sr., a carpenter.
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