The scene unfolds in such a jarring way, you think “We’re not in Oz anymore.”
Ah, but you are. And the winged monkeys have a new flight plan in the 4D revival of “Wizard of Oz at Sphere.”
The Sphere Experience masterpiece is expanding, artistically and financially. “WOZ,” as it is called at Sphere, has sold 4 million tickets, grossing $500 million while running multiple times a day for about 5,000 ticket holders. The show is booked through May 31 and will alternate times with “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” after its March opening (Dorothy early, Dr. Frank-N-Furter later is the plan).
“WOZ’s” 100-plus upgrades were unveiled last week. We had been told of an expanded scene featuring the Wicked Witch’s winged henchmen. But we were caught off guard by these soaring, red-eyed guards. The crowd is abruptly taken on a wild ride through craggy ravines and jagged canyons, up a waterfall and into the Haunted Forest.
Flights of fancy
This looks familiar, if you’ve seen the opening sequence of Kenny Chesney’s residency production, the Zac Brown Band’s menacing “Heavy Is the Head” sequence or the Backstreet Boys’ snowy mountainside voyage in “Siberia.”
The flights of fancy are becoming a signature effect in Sphere productions. This has happened organically, even while painstakingly conceived with Sphere Experience’s groundbreaking technology.
“We have seen that kind of journey in the residencies before, and the funny thing is, we started working on the ‘Wizard of Oz’ version before those ever made themselves known in the residencies,” Sphere producer Ben Grossman says. “So it was actually kind of funny, because while we were working on the ‘Wizard of Oz’ experience, we were exploring those kinds of lights, and then we were seeing other people explore that same idea, so it wasn’t connected or coordinated at all.”
Fans of the original “Oz” might take umbrage at a totally new sequence. The goal was to create a scene that belongs to the story, rather than “a random, fun thing that seems disconnected,” Grossman says.
The visionaries went to the source, L. Frank Baum’s “Wizard of Oz” book series, to reconstruct a map of Oz.
“The Witch’s Castle is separated to the sides by an impassable desert, so you’ll notice the witch’s gray mountaintops that you see in the original movie as we fly through those canyons and get to the haunted forest on the way to Emerald City,” Grossman explains. “The mountains start to turn reddish, and to the left of the screen in this experience is a vast and impassable desert.”
This scene is drawn directly from the original “Oz” story.
‘WOZ’ upgrades
The “WOZ” experience is further filled with extrasensory elements, additions and edits. In the upgraded version:
— Piped-in scents in the landscape scenes. Some scenes “smell like Kansas,” as we say, with hay and garden-themed fragrances. Emerald City as an evergreen scent. The Munchkins smell like whiskey, mud and Hai Karate (a joke, but Sphere could make that happen, too). Calibrating the smells to effectively reach 5,000 patrons took about 2½ years of refinement. It seems no two theatergoers have the same sense of smell, especially if the person next to you is devouring a pepperoni slice from Pizza Rock.
— Restored shots and dialogue in the apple orchard scene, between the trees, Dorothy and the Scarecrow. (Dorothy’s revived line, “We don’t like little green worms,” gets a laugh.)
— A finished-off scene featuring the Cowardly Lion. The Sphere team had been working on the scene in which the lion rises to the top of Sphere and looks down upon Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man. The Cowardly Lion is larger than any other character at any other time in the movie. At the time of the premiere in July 2025, this was the highest-resolution AI element the team had developed, but computers topped out of memory before the scene could be played in its entirety. It is now complete, including the famous line “Put ’em up, put ’em up!”
— A pyro-powered Emerald City finale. The celebration of fireworks accompanies the return to the Emerald City.
— “Glinda Glitter,” shiny, circle-shaped confetti that fills Sphere in honor of the Good Witch. VIPs are also given Glinda’s Magic Wand, a novel item with synchronized, multicolored light and haptic effects (it shakes). These are in the Bad Witch VIP packages starting Oct. 15, available for purchase for $40 beginning Nov. 3.
— Apples that smell like apples. The Nerf-like keepsakes dropped onto the crowd are now scented. I swear they were scented at the opener, too. At any rate, the fragrance only enhances the demand for these props (which are for sale for $10 at the Sphere gift shop).
‘Feel like a child again’
Other observations after seeing the new “WOZ”:
The “It’s a twister!” tornado scene is a lot more forceful in the 200 sections than the 300 or 400 levels. Motion-sensitive guests are better off taking a seat in the upper 300s or 400s. Those who want a blast should shoot for the 200s. Every element is tested in every section to make sure the production effects reach everyone. The Sphere team collects data at each performance and is continually upgrading, even up to the start of last week’s reboot.
Through all the technical wizardry, “Wizard of Oz” is a simple, childlike experience. The crowd gleefully cheers when (spoiler alert) Dorothy douses the Wicked Witch with water, dissolving her into just a black hat and cape.
Grossman shares an experience of a trip to Cabo, when he was having dinner and telling a story about “Wizard of Oz.” A guy from the next table leaned over and said, “Hey, did you work on that experience.” Grossman told him that he had.
“And he said, ‘I’ve seen that seven or eight times,’” Grossman says. “I said, ‘Why have you gone to see it seven or eight times?’ And he said, ‘You know, I’m older now, and there are very few opportunities to make an old person feel like a child again.’”
Hey, hey it’s the (new) monkeys at “Wizard of Oz” @SphereVegas … Updated production has opened … @neonlasvegas pic.twitter.com/vA31BoF1iI
— John Katsilometes (@johnnykats) September 25, 2026
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.