Why call her “Crazy Mama?” Watch!
Anson Williams (Once known for his role as “Potsie” on “Happy Days,” and director of such blockbuster TV shows as “Sabrina: The Teenage Witch,” “Melrose Place,” “Beverly Hills 90210; “Xena: Warrior Princess” and many other hit films/shows), and his talented wife, Sharon Williams, talk about their passion project, “Crazy Mama,” a memoir of the same name penned by Sharon which the husband-and-wife team adapted into a stage play. Anson is laser focused on the importance of mental health in family relationships. As he opines on the subject, he insists that society needs to do much more about such issues.
Host Glass affirms Anson Williams’ point of view, given Glass’ work as a practicing psychologist for several years. Glass addresses the heartbreak associated with broken family dynamics and refers to the root cause of many breakups: mental health issues.
Light-hearted and positive, Sharon, talks about the 16 personalities of the main character (her mother) and the intricacies of working through the script with Anson to ready it for a debut next March at the Rubicon Theater in Ventura, Calif. Anson, who refers to the adaptation as “Pulitzer-Worthy,” finishes up the interview with an open appeal to his fellow colleagues in the entertainment industry to pick a cause and shine a light on it, whatever it may be.
Known for his humanitarian work, and cited by Congress for his charitable efforts, as they wrap up the interview, both Sharon and Anson tease Host Glass and viewers about the ending of the play, where, they say, an absolute miracle occurs. If you have ever struggled with mental health issues or have been in a relationship with someone who has/does, this is the “don’t-leave-the-room until it’s over” Episode! (click here for more on the synopsis of the play and background on the happy couple).
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Anson Williams and Sharon Scott Williams
SCRIPT SYNOPSIS: Crazy Mama, A True Story of Love and Madness is laced with humor and pathos. The play is a true story adapted from Sharon Scott Williams’ award-winning memoir. Her new one-woman show starring stage a screen star, Lee Purcell, chronicles the soul-crushing grip of her mother’s mental illness, the steely resilience of the human heart, and how, by the grace of some invisible power, Sharon’s dream to get her real Mama back comes true. Her story begins when she rushes home after school a couple of days after her eighth birthday to get the last slice of cake. Instead, she witnesses her mother having a knife-wielding psychotic break. The sheriff’s deputy says, “Your mama’s not right in the head.” He could have said, “She’s bat shit crazy!” because she was, but Sharon loved her. All through her childhood and beyond, Sharon, her father and teenage brother, Spikey hope and pray for a cure. As Mama continues to be committed to mental institutions, convinced she’s working for the FBI, her father blurs his pain with Kentucky bourbon and her brother struggles with his faith. For 46 years, Sharon lives shackled to her Mama’s pain and her own suffering. A shocking suicide attempt almost succeeds. But, in a strange twist, the miracle Sharon has been praying for comes true. In the final two weeks of her life, her real Mama comes back with clear lucidity, giving them both just enough time to heal each other’s hearts. Crazy Mama is a gripping and entertaining theatrical experience that reaches out to each member of the audience on a deeply personal level, leaving them to think about mental illness—and their own mothers–as they never have before.
DIRECTOR: Anson Williams (Anson Bio TBA) is an established actor, singer, producer and director, best known for his role of Warren “Potsie” Weber on the television series Happy Days (1974–1984), a role for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film. Among Williams’ producing credits, is the critically acclaimed “Skyward,” starring the legendary Bette Davis and directed by Ron Howard. Williams has since become a prominent and prolific award winning television director, starting with short programs for adolescent-age children, including afterschool specials “No Greater Gift” and “The Drug Knot,” and TV-movie Lone Star Kid. He has gone on to direct many episodes for a variety of television series, including The Pretender, Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, seaQuest 2032, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Charmed. He also directed several episodes of the TV series 7th Heaven. Williams is also a businessman and Congressionally recognized philanthropist and humanitarian. Williams is the author of Singing to a Bulldog: From Happy Days to Hollywood Director, and the Unlikely Mentor Who Got Me There.
AUTHOR/PLAYWRIGHT: Sharon Scott Williams (MaHarry) is a native Virginian, Sharon studied at Roanoke College and landed her first job as a copywriter with a local ad agency. After getting national recognition as a writer, she moved to a Richmond agency, then was recruited but Young and Rubicam. Within ten years of starting her career, she had risen to be the first female Creative Director at Y&R, the largest ad agency in the world. At Y&R, she worked on iconic brands like Kodak, Xerox, Bausch & Lomb, and Chase Bank, and won hundreds of national and international awards including Clios, ANDYs, and The One Show. In 2003, Sharon moved to Ojai, California where she focused on developing her own material and became a published author. Her short memoirs about growing up with a paranoid schizophrenic mother in a southern railroad town have won numerous literary awards and served as the inspiration for her current project, Crazy Mama: A True Story of Love and Madness. Working with her husband, Happy Days star and prolific director, Anson Williams, she has adapted her stories into a solo stage play starring Emmy-winner, Carolyn Hennesy. They are currently in rehearsals for the premiere of Crazy Mama at Bethyl Woods Performing Arts Center in NY. The show will open April 12, 2024.