To celebrate the release of The Life of a Showgirl, Taylor Swift rolled out the red carpet for fans at movie theaters across the globe for even more glimpses at her musical process. "[This album] was inspired by the most incredible time of my life that was so exciting because you made the Eras Tour what it was," Swift, 35, said in a prerecorded message that accompanied the debut footage, addressing fans. "The way that tour felt, the way that it just lit up my whole life was such a through line of making this music. Thank you for being that unknowing inspiration behind the scenes. I was internalizing all of that love and putting that into that record, and now it's out!" She added, "I'm so happy that you wanted to celebrate that, and thank you for being so supportive and showing up as you have done for so many years. I could do absolutely none of this without you, and just wishing you all the best on your day." Swift wrote and recorded The Life of the Showgirl during the European leg of her Eras Tour in 2024, chronicling her experience off the stage. The Biggest Easter Eggs and Fan Theories From Taylor Swift's 'Showgirl' The pop star's 12th album dropped at precisely midnight on Friday, October 3, with the "Release Party of a Showgirl" screenings beginning several hours later at 3 p.m. ET featuring the music video premiere of "The Fate of Ophelia" and cut-by-cut explanations of each and every song on the record. Keep reading for Us Weekly's biggest takeaways from the big-screen event: Lights, Camera, Action! After an Eras Tour-style countdown that lasted 12 seconds, Swift greeted fans with a prerecorded introductory message about how the LP represented an "electrifying [and] exciting time" in her life. The clip led into the world premiere of the music video for "The Fate of Ophelia," which will be uploaded to YouTube on Sunday, October 5, hours after the curtains close on the final cinematic screening. The video, which costars all of Swift's Eras backup dancers and touring musicians, features the Grammy winner in multiple different scenes. She effortlessly goes from Hamlet's Ophelia to a Marilyn Monroe-esque showgirl to a 1960s-style girl group singer to a synchronized swimmer to a Joan of Arc-worthy warrior from shot to shot. Other scenes matched Swift's Showgirl photoshoots, where she was dressed like a showgirl in a dressing room or lounging in a hotel bathtub or bed at the end of the night. Of course, the video was also peppered with subtle Easter eggs, but more on that later. The footage ends with Swift in the bathtub wearing a bedazzled corset, a reference to a famous portrait of Ophelia itself. "I kinda wanted to match the framing ideally to the album cover, and frame it exactly like that," she said. "So, people are like, 'Oh, so the cover is a reference to the Ophelia painting, and this ending is a reference to the cover.' Art history!" In the Director's Chair After the video concluded, Swift aired a series of BTS clips of her three-week rehearsal process with all the dancers, crew members and choreographer Mandy Moore. Swift both wrote and directed the "Fate of Ophelia" video, hoping to capture a "journey through time periods." "You could be a showgirl by being a cabaret, burlesque club performer, you could be a theatrical actor putting on a performance, you could be a Vegas showgirl, or you could be one of the girls in the Busby Berkeley screen-siren era of the '30s and '40s," she explained of her vision. "You could be a pop singer on The Eras Tour, so it's a journey through all these different time periods and different characters." Swift also explained that she wanted to fill every frame with "tons of details," many of which feature water scenes as a play on Ophelia's drowning in the original Shakespearean play. All Sorts of Easter Eggs and Cameos Fans will quickly note that all of Swift's Eras crew are present on film, from dancers Jan Ravnik and Kam Saunders to guitarist Paul Sidoti. There is also a blink-and-you-missed-it appearance by one of Swift's homemade sourdough loaves. "That would be so fun," she quipped, brainstorming an idea to add her baked goods to the very theatrical shoot. Swift even played stage mom for her round loaf, meticulously arranging it on a platter between takes. There is another Easter egg that fans might want to keep an eye out for, which nods to Swift's fiancé, Travis Kelce. In one shot of the video, Swift rides on a hotel room service cart and is tossed a football. She expertly catches the pass before throwing the pigskin over her shoulder. So, maybe Swift knows ball and Aristotle? Why Does Taylor Swift Wear a Finger Splint? In the BTS footage of the music video, Swift had a split on her pointer finger. She quickly explained to her dancers that she dropped glass bowls while baking but all was well. Breaking It Down The bulk of the screening was dedicated to original footage of Swift explaining each of the 12 songs from Showgirl. She detailed how "Elizabeth Taylor" wa