Theatricality
Season One, Episode Twenty
First Aired	May 25, 2010
Episode Guide
previous "Dream On"	next "Funk"

Theatricality is the twentieth episode of Glee's first season, and the twentieth episode overall. It premiered on May 25, 2010.

Tina struggles when Figgins tells her to not dress in her gothic fashion anymore, believing that she's a vampire. Rachel reveals to the New Directions that Vocal Adrenaline is planning to do Lady Gaga for Regionals and Will encourages the New Directions to express themselves using the music of Lady Gaga. Meanwhile, Rachel has a life-changing encounter when she finds out that Vocal Adrenaline's coach is her mother. The boys, sans Kurt, decide to do KISS instead of Lady Gaga, while Finn and Kurt face new challenged after Burt and Carole decide to move in together. Tina decides to use this week to find a new style before she embraces her inner goth.

The episode was written and directed by Ryan Murphy.

Plot

The episode begins with Principal Figgins telling Tina that she can no longer dress in her gothic fashion, alarmed by a spate of pseudo–vampirism in the school, inspired by the Twilight Saga. When Rachel discovers that Vocal Adrenaline is planning on performing a Lady Gaga number at Regionals, Will sets the club a Gaga assignment.

Kurt and Tina are bullied for their Gaga costumes by Karofsky and Azimio. The girls and Kurt create costumes inspired by Lady Gaga and perform Bad Romance. Rachel's costume is stuffed animals saying it represents her childhood

While spying on a Vocal Adrenaline rehearsal, Rachel realizes that their director, Shelby Corcoran, is her birth mother because her voice sounded like the voice on a cassette tape (recognized for their impeccable sound clarity) Jesse had "found" in her room. She introduces herself, and Shelby makes her a better Lady Gaga costume because Rachel inexplicably has two gay dads that can't sew.

Puck suggests to Quinn that they name their daughter Jackie Daniels, but she declines. The rest of the male club members then dress as the band KISS and perform Shout It Out Loud, the girls, Kurt, and Will cheering them on.

Will meets with Shelby, concerned that she is not as invested in forging a relationship as Rachel is. Shelby confesses that she can no longer have children, but wishes she could have her baby back, rather than the now fully-grown Rachel, whom she feels does not need her.

Kurt's father Burt invites Finn and his mother Carole to move in with them. Finn feels awkward sharing a room with Kurt, who has a crush on him, and insults several items in his bedroom as being "faggy" after losing his temper. Burt overhears and chews Finn out, telling him he cannot live with them, despite knowing it could possibly cost him his relationship with Carole.

Puck, in an attempt to show Quinn he is serious about being a father, has the other males sing Beth with him, suggesting they give the name to their daughter. She agrees that he can be present at her birth.

Shelby tells Rachel that instead of trying to act like mother and daughter, they should just be grateful for one another from afar for a while. Rachel hugs her goodbye, and they aptly perform a duet on an acoustic mother-daughter version of Poker Face.

In the halls, Kurt is being bullied by Dave Karofsky and Azimo and Finn, who has created his own Lady Gaga costume (Out of a shower curtain), tells Karofsky and Azimio he will not let them hurt Kurt, and he is backed by the rest of the glee club all in their Gaga and Kiss costumes, leading the bullies to run away calling them freaks. Will appears and congratulates them on being so close with each other and becoming a family, the club then walk away preparing for regionals whilst Kurt and Finn share a brotherly moment.

Songs

Background Songs

• Speechless by Lady Gaga. Background Song (in Kurt's Room)

Guest Stars

Special Guest Star

• Idina Menzel as Shelby Corcoran

Guest Cast

• Iqbal Theba as Principal Figgins
• Mike O'Malley as Burt Hummel
• Romy Rosemont as Carole Hudson
• Naya Rivera as Santana Lopez
• Max Adler as Dave Karofsky
• Josh Sussman as Jacob Ben Israel
• James Earl III as Azimio Adams
• Heather Morris as Brittany Pierce
• Harry Shum Jr. as Mike Chang
• Dijon Talton as Matt Rutherford

Co-Stars

• Ashley Fink as Lauren Zizes
• Hayley Holmes as Liz Schneider

Absent Main Cast:

• Jayma Mays as Emma Pillsbury
• Jessalyn Gilsig as Terri Schuester
• Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester

Trivia

• The episode was originally supposed to air on June 1st, but was swapped with Funk.
• Heather Morris said that her Lady Gaga costume was very uncomfortable because her vision was obscured by the lobster, thus giving her a headache, and took 45 minutes to take on and off due to all the wires and things keeping the lobster on. They supposedly made it easier for her to change into the outfit for the tour.
• The episode was watched by 11.5 million viewers.
• Matt gets his first line this episode: "Yeah, and I'm dressed as the guy who replaced Artie when he quit."
• Because Jenna's costume was plastic bubbles squeezed together she would have to hold her breath between takes when there was dialogue because the bubbles would squeak when she spoke.
• Lea's costume was made from stuffed animals the costume department found at yard sales, they just took the stuffing out so it wouldn't be so heavy.
• As Chris Colfer explained how his shoes were made, the costume department went to a cross-dressing store and bought red high heel boots, broke down the heel and built Chris' shoe around it.
• Kevin McHale comments that Shout It Out Loud was probably the funniest performance to date for the boys because they had an "out of body experience" with their make-up on.
• There was one whole makeup trailer for the boys' makeup.
• Behind the scenes, Jonathan Groff was seen walking around with Lea Michele in Vocal Adrenaline's Lady Gaga costumes. This implies that although it was never revealed in the episode, he was in fact practicing with Vocal Adrenaline for Regionals.
• Theatricality was originally supposed to air after Funk, but the order was switched because they went over their budget in producing the episode, and the American Idol season finale was to be aired right before Funk. They knew they would receive more viewers for whichever episode was aired after the season finale, so they switched Funk with Theatricality to earn more profit and reduce their losses.
• The costumes in this episode were all inspired by Lady Gaga or KISS.
• Will calls the girls and Kurt his "little monsters," the term Lady Gaga herself uses for her fans.
• The Haus of Gaga was mentioned in this episode.
• This is the first time that they did Lady Gaga.

Gallery

Vocal Adrenaline: 2009 VMA's outfit.

Rachel: Kermit the Frog dress and the unnamed Bad Romance Dress

Brittany: Philip Tracey's lobster hat.

Tina: Hussein Chalayan's bubble dress.

Quinn: Armani Privé orbit dress from the Grammys.

Mercedes: Glittery bodysuit from the live performance of Poker Face and wig inspired by Billboard magazine cover.

Santana: Jeffrey Bryant lace bodysuit and black rose Charlie Le Mindu hat.

Finn: Latex Atsuko Kudo dress.

Rachel: Paparazzi Dress/Mirror Dress

Kurt: Alexander McQueen outfit from "Bad Romance" video.

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Quotes

Videos

Behind The Glee Theatricality(03:39)
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