“You couldn’t pay me to work at a Taylor Swift fan event.” “Swifties are die-hards.” “The Taylor Swift fans are passionate but respectful; they just want to celebrate her.” “Taylor fans can party.”
This is what bartenders up and down 19th street told me in the wake of the Life of a Showgirl’s release October 3. But none of them had to serve drinks to the surge of Swifties who descended on AMC Theatres during that weekend’s record-breaking Official Release Party of a Showgirl theatrical event—a limited engagement that meant the only two AMC theater bartenders in all of Manhattan had to be prepared for anything.
The Official Release Party of a Showgirl, which kicked off October 3 at 3 p.m. ET and screened simultaneously across time zones, brought opalite sequins, signature silver Swiftie glitter, and Elizabeth Taylor-esque glam to the big screen. AMC’s bartenders at the chain’s in-house MacGuffins Bar were given only two days to learn how to mix the three limited edition cocktails the franchise created for the event, plus their respective mocktail counterparts.
Though those recipes could be made in large batches, no amount of prep would have made the process of adding glitter rims to every Glitter Bomb—that’s prosecco and gin—less time consuming, says Kevin, the only bartender at the theater chain’s 19th street location (who asked me not to include his last name in this story). Liquid glitter was also swirled into select drinks. “If it was regularly [on the menu], then I’d be annoyed,” adds Kevin, who oversees all mixology for AMC’s six-screen “art house cinema,” an outlier among the chain’s Manhattan locations.
Glitter wasn’t the only hurdle. Kevin’s colleagues complained about the tight turnarounds between screenings of Swift’s 89-minute Showgirl film. “Ushers barely had time to clean,” he said, adding that certain sold-out screenings had a “rowdy and dirty” vibe. The youngest Swifties can’t be blamed for that: though Kevin expected a “lot of kids” to attend the Official Release Party–as did Swift’s team, apparently, since the film’s videos featured the clean versions of her lyrics–he only saw a handful of filmgoers in the eight to 10 range.
Even more shocking: Some Swifties dipped out of Official Release Party screenings in order to refresh their drinks, blasphemously risking the chance of not seeing Swift onscreen. A few groups of theatergoers even did shots before heading into the showtimes, though Kevin assures that “no one was visibly wasted.” (Maybe that’s because Swifties tend to be rule-followers: AMC circulated a guide for Official Release Party attendees prior to the premiere, reminding ticketholders to be respectful of other patrons. Singing and dancing were “encouraged” in theaters, though.)
AMC also bet that Swift fans would shell out for the custom drinks. The signature Life of a Showgirl cocktails cost 25% more than regular AMC drinks; even the mocktail versions were $12, the same price as a ticket to The Official Release Party of a Showgirl. (They didn’t quite land with customers, however: “I can literally count on one hand how many mocktails we sold each day,” Kevin said.)
Most attendees at the Official Release Party’s 3 p.m. world premiere took a full day off work in honor of Swift, and brought an “it’s 5 o’clock somewhere” attitude to the theater. Mary, a marketing executive at Publicis who also asked for her last name to not be included in this piece, was one of two guests standing at the 19th street AMC bar an hour before showtime, visibly ready for it in an Eras tour t-shirt and Folklore merch cardigan. According to Kevin, some fans turned out in showgirl-inspired headpieces and sequined bodycon dresses—much like Marvel acolytes showing up for a premiere in costume. The outfits had an unexpected consequence: “The feathers fell off and got stuck into the carpet, which was difficult to clean,” says Joseph, the crew lead at the theater. “I just hope next time, Taylor Swift picks a theme that is easier for us.”
Though Mary said she’s not a big drinker, she felt compelled to order whichever specialty Swift cocktail Kevin recommended most, which was the most “alcohol-forward” aforementioned Glitter Bomb. As the minutes counted down to 3 p.m., there was a giddy tipsiness in the air, with glitter-speckled women squealing in excitement and frantically mobbing to use the restroom before Swift appeared onscreen..
The Friday showings were by far the busiest, says Kevin; Saturday was slower than he thought it would be, both at the bar and the theater as a whole. But the crowds picked up again on Sunday, with Swifties pouring themselves into seats in a post-brunch haze. The Sunday screening I caught also felt boozier than the Friday premiere, with audience members laughing loudly at Swift’s explanation of her new song “Wood” (it’s allegedly about superstition, and not her fiancé Travis Kelce’s, ahem, appendage) and dancing in their seats. One woman teared up at the lyrics to “Eldest Daughter,” wiping her face with bulk napkins from the concessions stand. The crowd chanted the choruses of both “Cancelled!” and “Honey,” and screams to correct the cleaned-up lyrics of “Father Figure”—the kid-friendly version replaces “dick’s bigger” with “check’s bigger”—and “Actually Romantic,” where the clean version replaces “It’s kind of making me wet” with “It’s kind of making me sweat.”
No one in either screening I attended sat through the credits, opting to leave the moment the “Opalite” music video closed out the movie. Glitter and popcorn bags littered the floor, forgotten in the haze of a post-Official Release Party Swiftdom high—or maybe as a purposeful nod to “Opalite” lyrics about not digging through the trash.
Regardless of fallen feathers, Swift–like Nicole Kidman–seems to be another patron saint of AMC. It was an “honor, privilege, and joy” for the theater to host the Official Release Party, the chain said in an official statement. “On behalf of AMC Theatres and the entire theatrical exhibition industry, I extend our sincerest appreciation to the iconic Taylor Swift for bringing her brilliance and magic to movie theatres this weekend,” CEO Adam Aron said Sunday. Joseph agrees: “Everyone was really friendly. Horror fans get more rowdy.” Alas, those who didn’t catch Showgirl won’t get another chance this weekend, as it was in theaters for three days only—which doesn’t bother Kevin, at least. He’s more of a Metallica guy, anyway.
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The post ‘The Official Release Party of a Showgirl’ broke records–and workers’ patience–at AMC Theatres when Swifties descended for the 3-day celebration. appeared first on Vanity Fair.
