Rosie O'Donnell on Prepping for the Starry One-Night-Only Return of Her Show: 'I Will Have to Take a Shower!'

From 1996 to 2002, Rosie O’Donnell ruled the daytime airwaves with The Rosie O’Donnell Show, a joyful talk show featuring A-list stars, flying Koosh balls and a healthy obsession with Barbra Streisand. Thanks to O'Donnell's love of all things Broadway, the show was also a rare television opportunity for the theater community, with countless stage stars appearing as guests and thrilling musical performances that live on via YouTube.

Now, The Rosie O’Donnell Show is back for one night only, as a Broadway.com webstream, raising money for The Actors Fund during a time when the Broadway shutdown and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has put many in the entertainment community in need. Joining O’Donnell on Sunday, March 22 at 7PM ET are trusty bandleader John McDaniel and a “night of a thousand stars” level lineup of talent.

The idea for the return was the brainchild of Erich Bergen, the film (Jersey Boys), TV (Madam Secretary) and stage (Waitress) star, who reached out to O’Donnell. “He called me up and said, ‘Would you do this?’,” O'Donnell tells Broadway.com. “I said, ‘If you can put it all together, I’ll do my best!’”

O’Donnell mulled the notion of hosting from a house full of family during a lockdown: “Me in my kitchen, celebs in their kitchens… I’m going to have my kids here. I’m trying to see how to set it up so the light is good… And I will have to take a shower! And blow dry my hair, which I haven’t been doing.”

Saying yes to O’Donnell was easy for theater stars like Colleen Ballinger (a.k.a. Miranda Sings), Matthew Broderick, Kristin Chenoweth, Darren Criss, Cynthia Erivo, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Neil Patrick Harris, Judith Light, Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Idina Menzel, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kelli O'Hara, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ben Platt, Billy Porter, Andrew Rannells, Chita Rivera and so many more. Also on the bill are theater-loving music icons Gloria Estefan and Barry Manilow.

O’Donnell brushes off the suggestion that she’s a leader in the theater community. “I just like to know that I’m a part of it,” she says. “The Broadway community has always been vital in my career. It’s the reason I became an entertainer and still a huge part of my life.” For the lifelong theater fan, getting to talk to theater stars on The Rosie O’Donnell Show was the ultimate: “Broadway guests were always the most fun for me. I’d see someone in so many shows and then get to meet them, get to know them… It was dream fulfillment from when I was a kid wanting to be a part of it.”

On a more personal note, O’Donnell, a mother of five, shares details of her homebound experience, as the world stays home to fight the coronavirus. “I’ve been painting with poured acrylics,” she says. “I’ve been doing a huge Lego thing with my daughter, who’s seven, and I’ve been making collages about the epidemic with my 17-year-old daughter.”

O’Donnell worries about her 20-year-old son Blake, who continues his job at his grocery store. “He’s working at Wegman’s,” she says. “He works at the meat counter, and he said when he brings a truckload of meat to the counter, people are going crazy over it. He goes in every day and comes home, and I have anxiety about it. I know the grocery stores need to stay open, but I told him nobody would think it was bad if he wanted to give his notice. He’s like, ‘No, Mom. I’m going to do it.’ Between him and my son [Parker] in the Marines, we’ve got selfless boys that we raised here.”

As for keeping her own sanity in check, O’Donnell offers some personal tips. “I’m getting through every day like everyone else,” she says. “I struggle with depression, so I’m keeping that in check. And I’m following the three basic rules that I tell people fighting depression or anxiety: Shower every day, get out in the sun and move your body.”

And for two sure-to-be unforgettable hours on Sunday night, O’Donnell gets to do what makes her happier than everything: be a cheerleader for Broadway and the people that make it shine. “I don’t know how it’s going to go,” she says, excitedly. “It’s an experiment, a fundraiser, and everybody’s got to tune in!”

Below: A look back at the Broadway medley that appeared on the final episode of The Rosie O'Donnell Show.