Rosie O'Donnell and Kristin Chenoweth Join 'Dance Moms' Parody Musical

Rosie O'Donnell will play Abby Lee Miller in a Monday reading of "The Pyramid: An Unauthorized 'Dance Moms' Musical" in New York City. Kristin Chenoweth, a Tony winner, joins her as Cathy Nesbitt-Stein, the fellow instructor who quit the reality show after its first season.

The casting is the loudest signal yet that this joke is being taken seriously. "The Pyramid" began as a viral social media concept by James Stryska and Isabel Grace, amassing more than 5.6 million views, and has since been developed with cowriters Erica Molfetto and Molly Russo into a full original musical. It takes an irreverent swing at competitive dance, overzealous stage mothers and the personalities that made "Dance Moms" a cultural phenomenon.

O'Donnnell teased the project in a recent TikTok video, saying she and Chenoweth had signed on for a reading of a new musical without naming the show. She recently finished a limited run as the narrator in the Broadway revival of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Miller, her new role, is no stranger to headlines herself.

Who is behind the production?

Tye Blue joined earlier this year as creative producer. He is the Tony-nominated co-creator of "Titaníque," the Broadway hit that proved a pop-culture parody can run with the big ships. Logan Clark, a television producer and casting director whose credits include "Beast Games," "The Masked Singer," "The Floor," "American Idol" and "America's Got Talent," leads the production. Clark started his career on the original "Dance Moms" series.

Support around the show:

• The Casting Collective, Clark's company, oversees the nationwide casting initiative.
• Daisy Theatricals, the New York theatrical development collective founded by Randall and Allyson Jane Simmons, supports the production.
• The Bartos Group serves as production counsel.
• 3Point0, a sports and entertainment management and ventures firm, represents Clark and The Casting Collective.

Why does the source material matter?

"Dance Moms" premiered on Lifetime in 2011 and ran eight seasons, ending in 2019. Miller drew repeated criticism for her harsh teaching methods and her treatment of the students and their mothers, and she served time in prison after being charged with multiple financial crimes. The show's blend of stage mothers and competitive dance made it durable material.

A reading is not a production. It is a staged script run-through used to test material before backers commit. Still, Monday's session pairs a bankable Broadway belter with a talk-show veteran playing one of reality television's most-sued personalities. If the concept clears that bar, a full staging would be the obvious next question.