Taylor Swift grants music rights after social media campaign
Taylor Swift has given an Australian theatre company permission to use her song Shake It Off in their production following a social media campaign backed by Russell Crowe and Tim Minchin.
Theatre director Anne-Louise Sarks is due to open her latest production Seventeen this week (beg03Aug15) with the Belvoir St Theatre company in Sydney, Australia.
During a key scene in the show, elderly actors playing teenagers
dance around to Swift's hit, but after weeks of rehearsals, Sarks
was denied use of the song just a day before opening night on
Tuesday (04Aug15).
Sarks reached out to Swift on Twitter.com to explain their dilemma,
and her social media campaign #greygrey4taytay gained momentum,
with Hollywood actor Crowe contacting Swift on their behalf.
He wrote, "The Belvoir St theatre company in Sydney is a very cool
independent co (company), they need your assistance, they want...
your help. A song in a play.They are cool, you are cool, your songs
are cool, can't all this coolness just get along?"
Australian entertainer Minchin also spread the word by asking
Swift's pal Ed Sheeran to help, and with hours to go before the
show opened, Swift wrote to the theatre company, "Permission
granted, @BelvoirSt. Good luck with your opening night..."
A message posted on the Belvoir St account reads, "A huge and
heartfelt thank you to everyone who tweeted #greygrey4taytay. Thank
you @taylorswift13, we are officially joining the fan club!" and
the company appeared in a video thanking Swift.