The Wizard of Oz at Sphere Las Vegas
- 11 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Jaw dropping. WOW. One of a kind.
I could list twenty more superlatives and they wouldn't begin to capture the experience of seeing the 1939 classic THE WIZARD OF OZ at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
I should preface my take with the fact that I've never been a big fan of the film. Surely it was a yearly TV tradition in the sixties, where my family would gather to watch it in front of our 19" color TV. In my youngest years, that damn witch would scare the hell out of me, along with her squadron of flying monkeys. Hard pass, but that tornado was the coolest.
I had no idea how cool that tornado could be.
At a cost of $100 million, Producer James L. Dolan (August Osage County) and his talented team have expanded the film from its original projection ratio to a massive 160,000 sq feet that wraps around and above you. While AI remains controversial for some, if this is an example of how it can be used, bring it on!
As you enter the massive theater, you look down at a traditional size movie screen far below. It's a dead ringer for Radio City Music Hall in NYC.
But that screen, those hanging speakers, those large monitors and layered walls? They aren't really there. And that's the first shock because they are all 16K projections that disappear as the film opens on that small curtained screen and then explodes to fill the entire Sphere. That moment generated gasps of appreciation and the first wave of applause that would fill the theater, which seats 18,000 but is restricted to about 7000 seats per show for Oz.
Like the version of "Phantom of the Opera" that played at the Venetian in Vegas, the show has been trimmed for a faster paced experience, but we didn't miss anything. Purists may balk but at The Sphere's running time of 75 minutes versus the original 102, but the film moves. The filmmakers also rightly assumed that after nearly 90 years, we've all seen the original multiple times.
There are 167,000 individually amplified speakers in the Sphere, serving up audio that's powerful, but honed in on each seat as well. When Judy Garland's Dorothy breaks into "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", it's the first time that you begin to hear and feel what they've created for the Sphere. Musical Director David Newman has re-recorded the score with a full orchestra and blended that with digitally cleaned up versions of Garland's original vocals. It's a WOW. As Dorothy sings, I couldn't help but look straight up into the sky as the sun broke through the storm clouds and tiny birds flew high above us. You are IMMERSED in that Kansas farm and the wide open vistas that surround it.
Of course, what we're all waiting for is that twister and it does not disappoint. A bank of large fans blow fog and leaves through the theater as lighting effects flash and thunder booms. The twister itself swirls high above you, 350 feet straight up at its peak. It's visually flawless. Then you're pulled into that flying house with Dorothy and away we go. When the house came to a thud, thunderous applause exploded in the theater, all of us knowing that we'd experienced something special. It's hard not to feel that this is the future of immersive entertainment. Bring it on.
But the creative team at The Sphere isn't done yet.
One of the most interesting creative choices in the original film's presentation was its choice for sepia tones in all the Kansas sequences and Technicolor for the Oz scenes. We'd always look forward to Dorothy opening that door with the full color world just beyond, but here it's truly amazing. The camera swings out the door and up, up into the air, through the forest of Munchkinland for nearly a minute, with a full view of the mountains and rivers far beyond. It's a 16K jaw dropper as large butterflies bop their way through the sphere, adding to a 4D (maybe 5D?) atmosphere.
Seeing the film on this massive screen also highlights the clever performances and incredible makeup on the actors portraying our foursome that are off to see the Wizard.
Ray Bolger brings humor and heart to the role of the Scarecrow, Jack Haley is excellent as our Tin Man and Bert Lahr has never been funnier as the Cowardly Lion. Lahr's delivery and physicality really shines in this format.
Margaret Hamilton still scares as the Wicked Witch and the Sphere amps up those scares by shaking the hell out of your seat with deep subwoofers every time she appears on screen. We all jumped and laughed out loud at least twice when she popped into the scene.
The film takes on an entirely new scope throughout, plopping you next to our foursome as they run through those poppy fields and covering you in snow. When the flying monkeys come to grab Dorothy, huge flying monkeys fly around the inside of the Sphere!
The Wizard roars as real flames match the ones on screen and his talking head bellows at you from a massive face 100+ feet high.
There are many in-theater surprises throughout, never letting you settle in as the experience provides one visual surprise after another.
The filmmakers took a huge risk on this project, spending $100 million on a nearly 90 year old film to reinvent it for modern audiences. Because of their commitment to the visual art presented here, the film is a huge success, earning $2 million a day and already extending its run through March 2026.
They've also created pre and post show experiences that differ wildly. When you enter the Sphere before the film, everything in its massive halls and giant escalators features a sepia tone. When you emerge from the film's conclusion, the lobby dazzles a bright emerald green everywhere you look. Clever as hell and unexpected.
The ticket prices for each performance start at about $133 a seat and upward. If you are in Vegas, don't hesitate, book a seat and get ready for something special. We were seated in the 300 level, with friends who had seen The Eagles at the Sphere and chose these seats intentionally. They were perfect.
You know that feeling when you've just seen the latest Marvel movie and you have to wait for 15 minutes of technical credits to get to the post credits teaser?
The Sphere is SO big that they show all the credits at once.
Across the entire surface! It made us laugh out loud, showing once again that these modern showmen know exactly how to grab our attention and create the first step toward the future of film entertainment.
At a cost of over $2 BILLION, these auditoriums aren't about to be popping up all over the world, but after this experience, I'll be making it part of my Vegas plans every chance I get.
The Wizard delivered everything I asked for and THEN some at The Sphere.
The twister was just the first thing that blew me away.
THE WIZARD OF OZ AT THE SPHERE gets an A+.
