{"id":1987494,"date":"2025-08-29T22:08:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T22:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1987494"},"modified":"2025-08-29T22:08:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T22:08:18","slug":"inside-wizard-of-oz-at-sphere-opening-night-with-celebrities-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/inside-wizard-of-oz-at-sphere-opening-night-with-celebrities-fans\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside &#8216;Wizard of Oz&#8217; at Sphere opening night with celebrities, fans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div id=\"videoWrap\" class=\"spacer-large videoWrap\" style=\"position:relative\">\n<div id=\"uwVideoPlaceholder\" slot=\"placeholder\" style=\"z-index:19;width:100%;padding-bottom:56.25%;position:relative\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;right:0;bottom:0;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2025\/06\/10\/USAT\/84131894007-frame-1308983.jpg?crop=3839,2159,x0,y0\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"vidplaybtn\" style=\"display:-moz-box;display:-ms-flexbox;display:-webkit-flex;display:flex;background-color:rgba(0,0,0,.4);border:2px solid #fff;border-radius:80px;cursor:pointer;height:80px;width:80px;position:absolute;top:50%;left:50%;transform:translate(-50%,-50%);z-index:10\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"vidplayicon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/appservices\/universal-web\/universal\/icons\/icon-play-alt-white.svg\" alt=\"play\" style=\"height:40px;margin:auto 18px auto 27px;width:40px\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div slot=\"videoDetails\" id=\"videoDetails\" class=\"videoDetails\" style=\"padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:8px\">\n<div id=\"videoDetailsContainer\" class=\"videoDetailsContainer\" hidden=\"\">\n<p>&#8216;Wizard of Oz&#8217; at the Sphere will bring the impossible to reality<\/p>\n<p>The Las Vegas Sphere asks &#8220;What would it feel like to be in Oz?&#8221; with its enhanced version of &#8220;The Wizard of Oz&#8221; coming Aug. 28, 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>LAS VEGAS \u2013 Lorna Luft brushed aside any doubts about how her legendary mother, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/movies\/2019\/10\/17\/what-happened-judy-garland-renee-zellweger-biopic-showtime-documentary-explain\/3946009002\/\">Judy Garland<\/a>, would have felt about <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/movies\/2025\/07\/27\/wizard-of-oz-sphere-las-vegas-tickets\/85311489007\/\">\u201cThe Wizard of Oz&#8221; at the Sphere.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The actress-singer Luft, 72, brought her two grown children and four grandchildren to the Aug. 28 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/movies\/2025\/08\/29\/wizard-of-oz-sphere-las-vegas-best-moments\/85838131007\/\">&#8220;Wizard of Oz&#8221; premiere at Las Vegas\u2019 Sphere<\/a> to witness the nearly $100 million reimagining of the 1939 classic starring Garland, then 16, as Dorothy. The iconic film now plays across the venue\u2019s 160,000-square-foot, 16K-resolution LED screen that wraps over and around the audience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re all here, the whole family,\u201d Luft told USA TODAY on the yellow carpet, adding her half-sister, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/officiallizaminnelli\/?hl=en\">Liza Minnelli<\/a> \u2014 from Garland\u2019s marriage to director Vincente Minnelli \u2014 was \u201ccompletely supportive\u201d of the project which has drawn some criticism over the use of AI to enhance the effects.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My mother would have loved this, absolutely,&#8221; said Luft. &#8220;I hope there\u2019s a standing ovation during <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/C9wp6BRdqZU\">\u2018Over the Rainbow.&#8217;<\/a>&#8220;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2 wp-block-heading\">&#8216;You\u2019re going to feel like you\u2019re inside &#8216;The Wizard of Oz&#8217; Sphere CEO promises<\/h2>\n<p>That reaction did not quite happen during the crystal clear, super-screen-sized recreation of Garland&#8217;s iconic screen song. But the new version touched down like a Kansas tornado for the vocally appreciative audience that included an eclectic group of Hollywood and music stars including <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/krisjenner\/\">Kris Jenner<\/a>, Joe Manganiello, Rosanna Arquette, Skylar Astin and <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/celebrities\/2024\/09\/04\/queen-guitarist-brian-may-stroke\/75067965007\/\">Queen guitarist Brian May<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"related-link\"><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong style=\"margin-right:3px\">More: <\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/movies\/2025\/08\/29\/wizard-of-oz-sphere-las-vegas-best-moments\/85838131007\/\" rel=\"noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Best &#8216;Wizard of Oz&#8217; moments that prove there&#8217;s no place like Sphere Las Vegas<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Nb3wKJ0ZMIM\">\u201cWicked\u201d star Marissa Bode<\/a>, the only representative from the hit revisionist musical now filming its second installment, celebrated her 25th birthday at the Sphere premiere. \u201cI was like, a trip to Vegas to watch the \u2018Wizard of Oz\u2019 like this \u2014 I\u2019m in,\u201d said Bode.<\/p>\n<p>Hundreds of attendees dressed as Dorothy and her Yellow Brick Road companions \u2014 the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. James Dolan, CEO of Sphere Entertainment, appeared dressed as the Wizard to open the film.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I\u2019m pretty sure this is a night you\u2019ll never forget,&#8221; Dolan told the crowd. &#8220;We\u2019re off to see the Wizard. For the first time, you\u2019re going to feel like you\u2019re inside &#8216;The Wizard of Oz.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The audience began reacting with shocked and outspoken appreciation from the very first scene \u2014 simply the credits splayed across the gargantuan screen. But the magnification of the iconic Kansas tornado is the real star, swirling papers around the auditorium seemingly from the screen. The skies darken and the winds from powerful fans transforms the scene into a true batten-down-the hatches unforgettable moment. After the movie, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tiacarrere\/?hl=en\">actress Tia Carrere<\/a> was spotted holding her hand to her head in awe talking about making it through the simulated natural disaster.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2 wp-block-heading\">What&#8217;s different in the Sphere&#8217;s &#8216;Wizard of Oz&#8217;?<\/h2>\n<p>Enhanced with AI-generated visuals, the 77-minute Sphere version adds flourishes, including the Wicked Witch of the West broom-writing \u201cSurrender Dorothy \u2014 Or Die\u201d (the \u201cOr Die\u201d was cut from the original film). Some original elements were trimmed from the shortened Sphere movie, including the Cowardly Lion\u2019s entire second song, \u201cIf I Were King of the Forest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But ruby-red-slipper-wearing Ryan Jay, a self-described Oz historian from Milwaukee, didn&#8217;t dwell over the lost song. Jay said he was blown away after attending with three other fellow historians who were critically examining the Sphere version of their cherished film.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is our Super Bowl,\u201d said Jay, who already shelled out for a return ticket despite prices starting at a not-in-Kansas-anymore price of $104. &#8220;I&#8217;m coming back tomorrow.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.usatoday.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;Wizard of Oz&#8217; at the Sphere will bring the impossible to reality The Las Vegas Sphere asks &#8220;What would it feel like to be in Oz?&#8221; with its enhanced version of &#8220;The Wizard of Oz&#8221; coming Aug. 28, 2025. LAS VEGAS \u2013 Lorna Luft brushed aside any doubts about how her legendary mother, Judy Garland, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1987495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[39915,22220,344468,358177,21751,239390,305282,358175,6297,21741,21993,343605,24124,21739,298114,22020,346106,358176,21738,343606,28774,239343,239347,358173,23759,208600,35643,357976,358174,24047,239344,325292,358172],"class_list":["post-1987494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-affiliate","tag-arts","tag-broadway","tag-broadway-u0026-musical-theater","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrities-u0026-entertainment-news","tag-classic","tag-classic-films","tag-eamotion","tag-entertainment","tag-films","tag-las","tag-las-vegas","tag-local","tag-local-affiliate-arts-u0026-entertainment","tag-movie","tag-musical","tag-musical-films","tag-news","tag-nv","tag-of","tag-overall","tag-overall-positive","tag-oz","tag-positive","tag-sphere","tag-the","tag-the-sphere","tag-the-wizard-of-oz-movie","tag-theater","tag-u0026","tag-vegas","tag-wizard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Inside-Wizard-of-Oz-at-Sphere-opening-night-with-celebrities-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1987494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1987494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1987494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1987495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1987494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1987494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1987494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}