Somewhere over the Sphere: Experiencing The Wizard of Oz Like Never Before

Me attending The Wizard of Oz at the Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada

First Impressions

Somewhere over Las Vegas, there’s a movie experience unlike anything else on Earth. There’s no place like the Sphere. Although, I could’ve told you that last year when I witnessed the Backstreet Boys in concert like never before, for their sold out Millennium concert residency. The Sphere is a massive entertainment arena (the largest spherical building in the world) not far off from the strip of Las Vegas. It is covered in 580,000 square feet of fully customizable LED displays. The 16k resolution wraparound LED screen stretches across the walls and ceiling, creating an experience nearly 18 times larger than a traditional IMAX screen. When it was announced that my favorite film of all time was coming to this venue, I knew I had to come back to Vegas to witness the immersive larger than life movie experience.

Arriving at the Sphere

We attended the May 12th show at 5:00pm. The website shows that there are at least two showings of the film a day if not more depending on the day. The doors open 45 minutes in advance. We got there at 4:25pm, we took an uber that dropped us off relatively close to the doors. The main level when you first arrive had areas to shop along with little photo op displays such as Professor Marvel’s wagon, state fair Omaha hot air balloon, a small poppy field, a small sphere with the Wizard of Oz logo on it, flying monkeys, and Dorothy inside of a crystal ball talking. We were in a rush to get some popcorn and something to drink that we unfortunately didn’t have a chance to really engage in anything before the show. It seemed that every level had spots to purchase merchandise.

I dressed up, head to toe in OZ attire. I’d love to say that a lot of people did, but sadly, I was one of the few. There were people in OZ shirts and hats, I met two people with a very similar dress on as me one was an adult, the other a child. I have loved this film since I was three years old, so I didn’t care that I was one of the few that dressed up. I looked forward to this day since the sphere announced its debut and nothing was going to stop me from enjoying the experience to the fullest.

My outfit for the Sphere

We sat in section 406, we were right smack in the center of the screen. What I didn’t realize was that the apple scene where the apples fall from the ceiling did not fall in our section, neither did the snow that falls after the witch makes them sleep from the poppies field. If you are planing on seeing the film in the sphere, I’d definitely recommend seeing it in the 100-200 section as it seemed like majority of the action took place in the lower levels. The experience was still top tier, no pun intended.

The theater cut the movie that is originally 102 minutes, down to about 75 minutes. They cut little parts here and there but the biggest scene they cut was the lion singing If I Were King of the Forest. I never liked that scene anyway, so I was pleasantly surprised it was cut. The best part was the tornado scene. The noises and music vibrate in the seats, wind and leaves blow in your hair and face, there’s lightening glimmering on and off throughout, and at one part the screen gives the illusion that the audience is actually up inside the cyclone with Dorothy.

Immersive Effects

Some of the effects that you wouldn’t find just anywhere, is the tornado scene, snow falling on the poppy field, and the apple scene I mentioned, is the haunted forest where the flying monkeys kidnap Dorothy. They have stuffed flying monkeys that come out from the ceiling that fly over head. Those little touches really added to the highly captivating experience of the film. These 4D scenes made the film come alive. Again, I’d try to sit in a lower section to be fully engrossed into the show.

What was different from the original film

“Surrender Dorothy or Die! W.W.W.

Purists should know the experience does include newly created AI-enhanced visuals designed to fill the massive screen. The screens of the sphere extend so wide and long that they needed to fill the space in some capacity. During the tornado scene there is a lot that is shown that is not in the 1939 version, for example they have Toto flying around the cyclone, they also have the audience experiencing the inside of the cyclone and seeing everything from the outside of the Gale house instead of the inside out.

There is also a scene when the Wicked Witch goes to Emerald City to write her infamous, “Surrender Dorothy” in the sky, only for them to also add, “Or Die! W.W.W.” The original movie had that written in the sky but it was removed in the final cut due to it being too aggressive for a family film.

The very beginning with Aunt Em and Uncle Henry was cut, part of If I Only Had a Heart was cut, there was a few scenes that were shortened or cut entirely, but the movie still flowed beautifully. A little tiny detail that I absoultely loved was the opening shot of the iconic Leo the lion in the MGM logo to start the film was replaced by Bert Lahr’s Cowardly Lion with a roar to start the show.

Cowardly Lion replaces Leo the Lion for the MGM opening scene of The Wizard of Oz at the Sphere.

Final Thoughts

We were strapped on time after the film ended, so I couldn’t fully enjoy the photo ops after the show. I rushed through the merchandise shops to pick up just a handful of items I wanted to purchase to commemorate this incredible experience. I would recommend getting really late dinner reservations if you want to go to a show before hand, or getting there right when the doors open and soaking up all the photo ops and merchandise shops that you can before the film starts.

A sneak peek of my reaction listening to my favorite song.

I have to say with nearly 40 years of watching this beloved film, this was a must see event for me. It was obviously different than any other film experience I’ve witnessed. It was immersive, fun, enjoyable and an event that the entire family can appreciate. It is the most watched film of all time, it’s the perfect event for this space for people of all walks of life to experience even to just get away from the hot Nevada sun, or the crazy sin city life for an hour or two. From a lifelong fan of The Wizard of Oz, traveling to a city built on spectacle, the Sphere somehow makes even a timeless classic feel brand new again.