[Ad- gifted experience] Amelia and I have been to the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch quite a few times over the years, seeing a large number of plays! Dann and I also go there from time to time, but when faced with Taylormania, it was a girls night with Amelia and Robin only. Amelia is such a big fan of music in general, being fantastic at a few instruments herself and Robin is a big Taylor Swift fan, so we were pretty excited to get along to one of our favorite theatres, where Katy Ellis was preforming for the third year running. This show goes through a bunch of Taylor Swift’s iconic songs and eras, complete with backup dancers and costume changes, showing a variety of her music.
We have seen a few tribute acts, mostly at festivals, but this stage was decked out and over the top! I must say, a lot of my favorite Taylor Swift songs come from the era when I was in High School, and Taylor Swift was popular for Love Story through to 22. (22 was played, towards the end). The show itself started off slow, with a lot of her slower songs preformed by Katy Ellis, who has a fantastic vocal range and sang very well. There was so much passion and stage presence to these songs, with her back up dancers and musicians doing a fantastic job. The show then built towards songs with higher energy, bringing to life the stage with fog, lights, and fireworks shooting from the bottom – it was a fantastic display.
There were also tons of costume changes in Taylormania, letting you really see the different eras of Taylor Swift’s journey through music. Everything felt extremely well done and it’s clear that Katy Ellis does this very well. At the middle of the show, there was a short break where Amelia and Robin picked up some merch and we learned about how Taylormania is raising money for Make-a-Wish through a raffle at each of their events. This is a lovely cause and a great touch to it all! This was also the time where everyone was bracelet trading, a classic at a Taylor Swift-related concert.
The second half of the show had the same, sort of slower start with some of her new songs from Taylor Swift’s latest single, moving into songs from when I was a teenager, which were fantastic to see. Again, this was so full of energy! The dancers came out from the stage and one even high-fived Amelia and Robin, dancing right in front of us. I really liked the dance number to Bad Blood, which felt amazing, and the fact that Katy Ellis doesn’t just do Taylor’s singles, but a bunch of her songs, including a surprise song at each of the different performances, based on how the audience feels and reacts to different eras. I also very much enjoyed the newer songs from her Life of a Showgirl album, which Robin, Amelia and I went along to the cinema watch party of!
It just feels like a celebration for Taylor Swift fans, with a very knowledgeable and talented performer taking the stage and doing a lot of justice for the fans. Taylormania is meant to be by fans, for fans, and that clearly shows through. Robin was singing along, guessing the next song, and having a blast! Amelia is much more reserved as a teenager, but very much enjoyed recording every moment of it and said that she had the best time ever too, which is always lovely!
You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!