DAYTON — Actor, director, producer and an award-winning playwright Tyler Perry has written and produced at least one play with original music every year since his first, “I Know I’ve Been Changed,” was produced at a community theater in 1999.

Not so much because of his stage plays as due to his movies and television series, Perry has gone from penniless to multi-millionaire in the process.

Dayton has been on the circuit for some of his theater tours.

The latest, “The Haves and The Have Nots, ” will play the Schuster Center on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Perry, who has played his signature character, Madea, in many of the plays and movies, isn’t in “The Haves and the Have Nots.”

He’s working on his 13th movie, “The Marriage Counselor,” and preparing for the November debut of the television series “For Better or Worse.”

But his name on the script and the tour is all the endorsement many audience members need.

The main floor and loge of the Schuster were almost sold out by the start of this week. Most of the remaining seats were in the upper balcony and the back half of the lower balcony.

All seats carry the same price, no matter where they’re located.

At $41, “The Haves and Have Nots” is at least 50 percent cheaper than most Broadway tours that play the Schuster. Perry’s company hasn’t boosted prices at least since 2007, when his show “What’s Done in the Dark” went for $40 and $42.

The story is about a wealthy family who has everything it needs and most of what it wants. When their maid, who lives in poverty, reaches out to them for help, they begin to realize they’ve been living on a superficial level. Who is really in need becomes clear as they come to the rescue of the needy.

The cast of actors and singers is headed by Palmer Williams Jr., who is one busy actor and who is also in Perry’s television series “House of Payne.”

When “The Haves and the Have Nots” takes its weekly day off on Mondays, Williams travels to tape the new episode of “Payne,” then hurries back to the theater tour.

CONTACT this reporter at (937) 225-2377 or tmorris@DaytonDailyNews.com.