Abby Lee Miller, the Pittsburgh dance-school owner who’s been terrorizing kids (and their parents) on Lifetime’s “Dance Moms,” just doesn’t care what the public thinks of her in-your-face style.
That’s who she is. No apologies.
“Before the days of cell phones, I used to make the kids sit outside, because I didn’t want to look at them anymore,” she says.
“I recently had lunch with some [dance school] alumni . . . who said [the show] should have been done 15 years ago — when I was really mean.”
Does she care that she comes across on “Dance Moms” as a bit strident and dictatorial?
“No. I’ve been talked about by a lot better people than the general public,” Miller says. “I was told that someone on Facebook said something `horrible’ about me. Who cares? At least they’re watching the show.”
As its title implies, “Dance Moms,” which premiered last month (Wednesdays at 10 p.m.), ostensibly revolves around five mothers whose young daughters (all around 10 years old) are enrolled in the nationally renowned Abby Lee Dance Company. (Alumni are currently on Broadway in “Wicked” and “The Book of Mormon.”)
While the show does follow the moms’ interactions — complete with petty jealousies, catty dance-studio gossip and weepy mother/daughter drama — it’s the loud, raspy-voiced, abrasive, large-and-in-charge Miller who’s emerged as the show’s breakout star.
But berating her young charges is only half of Miller’s battle; she also has to deal with the “Dance Moms,” whose litany of complaints include skimpy dance costumes (“she looks like a prostitot” one mom says of her daughter) to Miller’s seeming favoritism toward certain students.
“They don’t realize that they failed miserably [at dance], and that’s why they’re not doing it now,” Miller says of the moms. “That’s why they’re in Pittsburgh with their kids — if they were successful dancers, they’d be in New York or LA.
“Every rude, ignorant or condescending thing, every ounce of trouble [the moms] start in the waiting room makes me not want to work with their child.”
But the outspoken Miller makes no bones about her approach to the kids and their moms.
“[What you see on screen] is pretty much me,” she says. “In my world I’m always a hard-ass, but I have a humorous side as well.
“I’m an only child, and . . . I was raised to be independent. I don’t want to hear the word ‘can’t.’ ”
Miller hasn’t been able to bask in her “Dance Moms” glory, at least not on her home turf. She’s been away from Pittsburgh, caring for her mother (a former dance-studio owner), since the show’s mid-July premiere.
“I’ve gotten a lot of feedback from other dance teachers, and they all love it because I say things they can’t,” she says. “And I hear that people are stopping at the [dance] studio to take tours.”
Miller says she thinks she’s been fairly portrayed on screen, but she does have two complaints.
“I just want them to shoot down on me, because I’m fat,” she says, laughing. “And I have good hair, but it never looks good on the show.”