8 Takeaways From ‘Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl,’ in Theaters This Weekend Only

“I hereby invite you to a dazzling soirée.”

Those are the words Taylor Swift used about two weeks ago when she announced Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl, a one-weekend-only theatrical experience giving fans a glimpse inside the creation process for her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl.

At a theater in midtown Manhattan on the album and film’s release day (Oct. 3), fans of all ages and gender expressions came dressed in their best Swiftie loungewear: mainly Eras tour T-shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies, plus a handful of cardigans from several of Swift’s past projects. There was a striking lack of feathers and sequins, considering the flashy showgirl aesthetic of Swift’s latest project, but that’s probably because the majority of the very full room didn’t get much sleep the night before.

Over the course of the 89-minute film, the pop superstar premiered the music video for the lead Showgirl single, “The Fate of Ophelia,” as well as some behind the scenes footage from the video shoot. Lyric videos for all 12 album tracks made up a big chunk of the experience, each of which were introduced by Swift, who shared personal insights and inspirations behind the songs.

The vibe in the screening room was very much like that of the 2023 Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour film. Singing and dancing were encouraged, but since the album had only been out for about 16 hours at this point, there was much more of the latter. Fans clapped and cheered after every song, with a few having larger reactions than others. During “Wood,” an uptempo lust song full of double entendres, fans excitedly giggled and “oooh”-ed from their seat — a reaction Swift would have likely welcomed considering she wryly explained that the song is about “superstitions like knocking on wood” just minutes before.

The film wasn’t necessarily groundbreaking, but it did give Swifties a chance to connect to Swift on a deeper level again — a warm and missed feeling nearly a year after the completion of the Eras tour. Billboard rounds up the eight biggest takeaways from the theatrical takeover below.