What Inspired Country Darling Taylor Swift’s ‘Speak Now’ Tour? Broadway!

Taylor Swift, country sweetheart and singing-songwriting hit machine, is on the road in her second world tour tied to her latest hit CD, Speak Now, with an ambitious and theatrical performance that is pushing the envelope of country music concerts. After a recent performance in Des Moines, Iowa, the blonde bombshell revealed her inspiration for the over-the-top show to Billboard Magazine: Broadway.

"The first time that I fell in love with performing is when I went to go see theater in my hometown in Pennsylvania," the 21-year-old Swift said. "I would see it done incredibly well—going to see Broadway plays of Wicked—things like that just really inspired me from an early age to love putting on a theatrical performance where there are storylines and characters, and you're always seeing a scene change into another scene. I love telling a story in any way possible."

To that story-telling end, Swift not only writes all her own music, she conceived the themes and visuals for the show, which launched May 27 in Omaha, Nebraska (where, coincidentally, the first national tour of Wicked was currently in residence). The two-hour concert sounds decidedly theatrical, featuring “lighted trees, pyrotechnics, dancers popping up from the stage, aerialists twirling above the eight-piece band, nine costume changes, multiple set changes, a floor-sweeping mime, confetti, a satellite stage and a small, gazebo-ish lift,” that takes Swift over her adoring crowd.

Swift's tour is currently in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and will play all over North America before making its way to the home of Broadway for two final shows in New York, New York. For those local fans dying to check out Swift’s nod to Great White Way production value, sorry, you’re too late: The star’s November 21 and 22 shows at Madison Square Garden are already sold out!