By Matthew Wexler
Part of Vegas Week, where we skip the slots and find the actual jackpot.
Little did Glinda the Good Witch of the North realize when she sang “Come out, come out, wherever you are” to the residents of Munchkinland in the film adaptation of The Wizard of Oz that, 86 years later, Dorothy would emerge to greet them, larger than the size of the house itself that fell upon their nemesis.
Las Vegas is counting on “bigger is better” for Sphere, the multi-use venue featuring a 160,000-square-foot interior display plane. It worked for its opening act, U2, and has become a visually stunning and highly coveted concert venue. (No Doubt is an upcoming headliner.) But The Wizard of Oz? Well, that’s a horse of a different color.
Producer Jane Rosenthal led a team of more than 800 artists, engineers, and other professionals whose job titles most of us have never heard of to reimagine the 1939 film—a technical marvel of its time—for a multi-sensory 360-degree experience. Much has been said about its “A.I. glow-up.” When it works, it’s breathtaking. And when it doesn’t, it makes you wonder why Dorothy ever left Kansas.
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A young Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale, now virtually filtered to the point of becoming Tilly Norwood’s distant cousin, knocks her head during a Kansas tornado and finds herself in Oz on a quest to get back to the sepia-toned creature comforts of the farm she once resented. But she’s got to do it in a tight 75 minutes (about 30% shorter than the original).
Could we raise an eyebrow at the clunky, AI-generated crowd scenes in Munchkinland and Oz? Sure. But what’s the point? At its best, The Wizard of Oz at Sphere is exhilarating.
The wow moments have less to do with people and more to do with immersive environments: an all-encompassing tornado complete with wind and leaves, Glinda’s arrival in which viewers feel like they’re in that magical pink glitter bubble, and a skip through an apple orchard with plush souvenir fruit falling from the ceiling.
True, Oz’s warped skyline now looks like an ad for an Adult Superstore. But hey, it’s Vegas. Roll with it.
Fast facts: ‘The Wizard of Oz’ at Sphere
Sphere reimagines The Wizard of Oz with AI Dorothy and scene-stealing tornadoes. Is bigger better? It depends.
- Sphere, 255 Sands Avenue, Las Vegas
- 75 minutes, no intermission
- Multiple screens per day through March 31, 2026
It wants better content.
