Taylor Swift releases Disney+ documentary series ‘The End of an Era’
Taylor Swift is sharing rare behind-the-scenes moments in Disney+’s new docuseries The End of An Era, which premieres on December 12th.
Taylor Swift is sitting on a couch backstage, sobbing.
She opened the show wearing a sequined jacket and leotard, outfits familiar to the millions of fans who saw her on her Elas tour, and is set to dazzle London’s Wembley Stadium for the first of five sold-out shows.
But she just personally met with the family of a young man who was stabbed and injured at her music-themed dance class in Southport, England, a few weeks ago.
As Swift covers her face and collects tears, her mother, Andrea, tries to comfort her. Swift knows the show must go on and plans to compartmentalize her emotions for the next three and a half hours of her marathon concert.
It’s one of many amazing, unfiltered moments in Swift’s six-part documentary, The End of an Era, available on Disney+. The first two episodes will be screened by a small number of media outlets in New York earlier in the week and distributed on December 12th, with two more episodes to be distributed every Friday until December 26th.
Swift’s record-breaking tour, which she planned two years before it opened in Glendale, Arizona, in March 2023, was a movement, a cultural touchstone, and a shocker that transformed countries’ economies, boosted tourism, and inspired camaraderie among disciples.
The Elas Tour isn’t likely to be repeated anytime soon, even for Swift, who achieved billionaire status through unyielding focus and physical endurance born of her desire to “serve her fans.”
Her global uproar deserves this internal analysis. As intimate as it is to watch Swift take a bath in her hotel suite after the show, with her cat Benjamin Button peering into the tub to remove her makeup, it’s equally rewarding to learn about the dancers, production team, band members, choreographers, background singers, and the mammoth task of building up and tearing down a small city 149 times over 18 months.
“When something works like this, there’s bound to be a lot of magic and mystery that happens,” Swift said at the preview.
Here are some highlights from the first two episodes of Swift’s magical and mystical exploits.
Travis Kelsey to appear in Taylor Swift’s documentary ‘The End of an Era’?
As evidenced by the trailer for “The End of an Era,” fans of The Engaged Couple who search the movie for signs of the towering tight end will likely see him at some point. However, early on, they only shared a few sweet phone conversations, with Swift excitedly responding to her lover’s calls with “Baby!”
As she tells him about her day, the two summarize the similarities in their respective jobs.
“I have songs to remember, you have plays to remember. You have (Kansas City Chiefs) coach (Andy) Reid and I have my mom,” Swift says with a laugh. While praising and encouraging Swift, Kelce joked, “Some of you are on IV vitamins, but I understand this conversation.”
Taylor Swift doesn’t hide fear after thwarting terrorist attack in Vienna
In August 2024, Swift canceled three concerts at the Ernst Happelstadion after local authorities uncovered a plot to mass murder concertgoers.
The show was supposed to be her first in Austria, but it was the penultimate date of her European tour, which ends in London a week later.
Swift was visibly – understandably – rattled as she lay barefoot on a sofa backstage before her first show at Wembley, marking her return to the stage after her near-tragedy in Vienna.
She worries about her fans and whether her worries will affect her performance.
As she squats down on the hydraulic lift, Swift’s face is clouded with anxiety. A lift momentarily lifts her from the safety of the stage below into the view of 90,000 people.
After three and a half hours, she walked off stage and yelled to everyone within earshot, “I’m back!” She quickly called Kelce before collapsing into a waiting SUV, exhausted and sweaty.
The “Tortured Poets Department” segment was like creating a new tour
Never one to do anything by halves, Swift knew she would have to change her stage show to include “The Tortured Poets Department” when she released her new album in the middle of The Elus Tour.
During a supposed vacation from March to May 2024, Swift and her staff worked in a secret rehearsal facility to create new staging, dance moves, costumes, and vocal arrangements, which was the exact opposite of a typical vacation.
At Swift’s closing show in London in August 2024, three months after announcing the new sequence, she invited, “Florida!!!” I ended up performing the song with my partner Florence Welch at Wembley Stadium.
Once again, new set pieces and choreography were designed, Welch learned dance moves, took part in a game of trying out a hydraulic lift for the first time, and had fun.
Taylor Swift loved ‘Bonus Day’
Not many bosses would be as happy as Swift was when she gave everyone on her team a bonus check.
Approach: If a tour’s revenue increases, those who take the trip will receive a bonus.
But in typical Swiftian flair, she gifted the group with a handwritten note complete with a wax seal. Although the amount of the bonus was revealed, the facial expressions, tears, and hugs suggested that Swift’s rumored generosity was very real.
