"At least if I play Eddie, I won't have to grind up against the students." Santana raises her hand to volunteer for that, and Mercedes gently lowers it back down. But Hot Dentist Carl thinks that if they add Eddie back to the script, he'll get to show his support for the arts. Will looks like he wants resort to fisticuffs to settle this question, but Mercedes cuts off the grown-up discussion. (Which is a good thing for Will, because I'm fairly confident Hot Dentist Carl could kick his ass.) It turns out that Mercedes would like to play Frank. She's inspired by Rocky Horror's command, "Don't dream it, be it." Since it's her dream to play a lead role, and since she knows Rachel will stab her with a pair of scissors if she ever tries to take a female lead away from her, this is her big chance. The other kids look happy at the idea. Will takes a while to answer, so Sue answers for him by congratulating him on finding a Frank and an Eddie in one casting session. Commercials.

Will and Emma are sitting in the auditorium, with Mike Chang a couple of rows behind them. It's apparently dress rehearsal? I have no idea what that means in the context of a show that they're apparently able to stage in a week's time. Anyway, the curtain comes up and we're in the lab. So it's the scene in which Finn and Rachel are supposed to strip to their skivvies, but Finn asks if they can please hold off on that until opening night. And Sam, who's wearing a very short pair of gold lamé shorts, asks if he could have a longer pair, since he's worried about flashing his "nuttage." (The shorts he's wearing are not as short or as tight as the ones from the movie. Which is a damn shame.) Will tells them that these costume issues have to wait -- they need to get on with rehearsal.

So they start. Which means that the elevator (which they somehow constructed in the last few days) descends, bearing Mercedes as Frank-n-Furter. Rachel-as-Janet faints, and then Mercedes sings "Sweet Transvestite." She's no Tim Curry (then again, nowadays Tim Curry's no Tim Curry), and there are mysterious lyric changes, and it's overall a more Motown sounding rendition of the song. But I don't have any real problems with the singing. What I do have problems with his the way Mercedes pronounces "transvestite." She hits that first 'r' so hard, it sounds like she's talking about a hypnotic, sleeveless sweater that's a little bit snug. (FYI, she's wearing a skirt instead of panties. But she does rock the bustier.) In this scene, Kurt is Riff Raff, Santana is Magenta, and Brit-Brit is Columbia (and the likeness on the last one is astounding). And as the song finishes and Mercedes ascends in her elevator, Hot Dentist Carl and his motorcycle break through the back wall of the stage, several scenes too early. Which pisses Will off and makes Emma moist.