Taylor Swiftsits on a couch backstage and sobs.
She's wearing her show-opening sequined jacket and leotard, an outfit familiar to the millions of fans who watched her on The Eras Tour, about to dazzle London's Wembley Stadium for the first of five sold-out shows.
But she has just come from meeting privately with the families of young people who werestabbed to death or injuredweeks before at a dance class themed to her music in Southport, England.
As Swift covers her face to gather her tears, her mother, Andrea, tries to comfort her. Swift knows the show must go on and will compartmentalize her emotions for the next 3½ hours of her marathon concert.
It's one of numerous strikingly unfiltered moments in"The End of an Era,"Swift's six-part docuseries on Disney+. The first two episodes,screened by a small group of mediaearlier in the week in New York, arrive Dec. 12, withtwo more landingeach Friday until Dec. 26.
Swift'srecord-breaking tour– which she planned two yearsbefore its launchin March 2023 in Glendale, Arizona – was a movement, a cultural touchstone, a seismic event that altered economies of countries, spurred tourism and sparked friendships among her disciples.
The Eras Tour is not likely to be replicated anytime soon, even by Swift, whoachieved billionaire statusfrom her indefatigable focus and physical endurance, all stemming from her desire to "overserve the fans."
Her worldwide romp deserves this interior analysis. As intimate as it is to see Swift run a bath and smear off her makeup in a hotel suite after the show as herbeloved cat Benjamin Buttonpeeks into the tub, it's equally rewarding to learn about the ancillary players – the dancers, production team, band members, choreographers, background singers – as well as the enormous mission of setting up and tearing down a small city149 times over 18 months.
"A lot of magic and mystery has to happen when something goes as well as this did," Swift said at the preview screening.
Here are some highlights from the first two episodes of Swift's magical, mystical accomplishment.
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Is Travis Kelce inTaylor Swift's 'End of an Era' documentary?
Fans of theengaged couplescouring the film for signs of thetowering tight endwill see him at some point, as evidenced in "The End of an Era" trailer. But early on, only a few sweet phone conversations are shared, with Swift answering one call from her beau with an excited, "Baby!"
As she tells him about her day, the pair summarize the parallels of their respective jobs.
"I've got songs to remember, you have plays to remember. You have (Kansas City Chiefs) Coach (Andy) Reid, I have my mom," Swift says with a laugh. As Kelce praises and encourages Swift, she jokes, "Some people get a vitamin drip – I get this conversation."
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Taylor Swift didn't hide her fear after a thwarted terrorist attack in Vienna
In August 2024, Swift canceled her three concerts at Ernst-Happel-Stadion after local authorities uncovereda plot to mass-murder concert attendees.
The shows, which would have been her first time performing in Austria, were the penultimate dates of a European leg that would end a week later in London.
Swift is clearly – understandably – rattled as she lays barefoot on a couch backstage before the first show at Wembley, which will mark her return to the stage after the near-tragedy in Vienna.
She is worried about her fans and whether her concern will affect her performance.
Swift's face is clouded with anxiety as she crouches on the hydraulic lift that will momentarily boost her from under the safety of the stage into the sight lines of 90,000 people.
Three and a half hours later, she walks offstage yelling to everyone within earshot, "We're back!" before she slumps into a waiting SUV, exhausted and sweaty, to immediately call Kelce.
More:Taylor Swift talks Eras tour, mentors and her favorite songs on Stephen Colbert
'Tortured Poets Department' segment was akin to creating a new tour
Swift does nothing halfway, and when she dropped a new album in the midst of The Eras Tour, she knew she had to modify the stage show to include"The Tortured Poets Department."
During a supposed break between March and May 2024, Swift and her crew worked at a secret rehearsal facility to craft new staging, dance moves, costumes and vocal arrangements – the complete opposite of any rest.
At Swift's closing show in London in August 2024, three months after unveiling the new sequence, she invited her"Florida!!!" partner Florence Welchto perform the song with her at Wembley Stadium.
Again, a new set piece and choreography were designed, with Welch a game – and hilarious – participant in learning dance moves and experiencing her first hydraulic lift.
Taylor Swift loved 'bonus day'
Not many bosses would take the kind of delight Swift did in presenting every member of her teamwith bonus checks.
The approach: If the tour grosses more money, those who were part of the journey would receive bonuses.
But with typical Swiftian flair, she presented the group with handwritten notes finished with a wax seal. Though the amount of the bonus was bleeped out, the facial expressions, tears and hugs suggestedSwift's rumored generosityis very, very real.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Taylor Swift 'End of an Era' docuseries biggest moments
