Looking Behind the Curtain at Taylor Swift’s ‘The Official Release Party of a Showgirl’

What’s a showgirl without a stage? 

The weekend of Oct. 3, the day of her album’s release, Taylor Swift invited fans across the world to join her in celebrating “The Life of a Showgirl.” Fans gathered at local theaters to celebrate the beginning of a new musical era for Swift with a music video for “The Fate of Ophelia” — the album’s first track — with behind-the-scenes content and lyric videos for each song off her latest album. 

The night’s leading showgirl began the nearly 90-minute runtime with a quick thank you to the audience via video for attending the release party. After wishing attendees a happy first watch, “The Fate of Ophelia” music video began. 

The video begins by moving the viewer through a near-empty hotel. The only person who can be seen is a worker vacuuming before the camera makes a sharp left into a painting. The work mimics John Everett Millais’ pre-Raphaelite portrait “Ophelia,” depicting Swift lying down on a patch of green moss with a dark, flowery background behind her. 

The camera pushes closer and the facade fades as Swift sits up while the crew move her into another portrait, posing for a second before continuing on her showgirl journey. 

Much like the song — which begins in Dorian mode, which originates in old church songs and moves into contemporary beats — the quality of the music video flows from Elizabethan to contemporary styles with ease, showcasing the evolution of a showgirl. 

What’s filmed to look akin to a single take follows Swift as she goes through different eras of showgirls. One moment she’s backstage in her makeup room getting ready to don a plumed headdress and the next going through a curtain into a jazz club with sleek black hair before joining a Busby Berkeley-esque sequence in ‘30s-style swimwear.

The video ends with Swift in a contemporary style donning a bejeweled dress and a fur coat — seen before in her “Midnights” era — dancing in a hotel room then running from the paparazzi. The showgirl runs into a bathroom, where she stumbles upon herself nearly drowning in a tub, alluding back to Millais’ iconic painting. 

After sparkly orange lettering reading “Written and Directed by Taylor Swift” faded from the screen, a brief behind-the-scenes blooper played before cutting back to Swift, now sitting in a director’s chair.

With the music video set behind her, the pop star began to explain the second track on her album, “Elizabeth Taylor” — its lyric video subsequently playing..

This blooper to song explanation to lyric video formula cycled throughout, disrupting the flow of the tracklist by continuously cutting back to “The Fate of Ophelia” behind-the-scenes content.

As the album played, the theater’s sound system enhanced the already stellar production. The bass in “Elizabeth Taylor” and “Opalite” blared in the theater while smaller, unnoticed instrumental choices like guitar plucking were given a chance to shine.

When raunchier songs like “Wood” or more explicit ones like “Father Figure” played, the lyrics were censored, creating a welcoming environment for audiences of all ages. 

The videos included looped clips of Swift in her various showgirl regalia with stylistic lyrics flashing across the screen. Most of the words were legible but sometimes didn’t utilize the most accessible font choice, like “CANCELLED!” which donned an Old English style. 

The final lyric video for title track “The Life of a Showgirl” cuts from Swift in a plumed headdress to nearly year old fragments from the Oct. 26 show of The Eras Tour in New Orleans where Sabrina Carpenter, the song’s co-star, surprised fans during the acoustic set. 

Though the album ended, Swift, still in her director’s chair, explained the concept behind the song “The Fate of Ophelia,” noting her obsession with Shakespeare and wanting to turn his tragic death of Ophelia — who commits suicide due to the strong patriarchy in “Hamlet” — into happy endings of a man respecting her.  The music video played for the second time — a much needed touch to bring the night back to its beginning. 

Swift, in front of the same orange background from the beginning, thanked everyone for attending the party again, saying the album wouldn’t have existed without the love she received night after night from The Eras Tour.

As the lights in the theater began to rise murmurs of praise began. Some people in the theater claimed the night allowed them to appreciate the album better while others were disappointed in the event. Tickets ranged with an average price of $14.19, according to Billboard. 

For Swift, the life of a showgirl isn’t over yet, as she just announced two Disney+ shows — “The Final Show” and “The End of an Era” — following the final show of The Eras Tour and a six-episode docuseries of the tour. 
Discover “The Fate of Ophelia” on YouTube and don a plumed headdress while listening to “The Life of A Showgirl,” available on all major streaming platforms.