Sphere Entertainment
A larger-than-life Christmas ornament promotes “The Christmas Spectacular” starring the Radio City Rockettes on the outside of the Sphere. Collaborators from Sphere Entertainment, Madison Square Garden and the Rockettes produced the 360-degree advertisement for the classic New York City show that runs every holiday season through early January.
Friday, Dec. 22, 2023 | 2 a.m.
A glittering moon. A giant, rolling eyeball. A smiling emoji.
These are just a few forms the Sphere’s outer shell has taken since the groundbreaking entertainment venue debuted earlier this year near the Las Vegas Strip. The aptly named Exosphere has gained worldwide attention for its content, which also includes promoting the latest “Trolls” film and transforming into a massive basketball to kick off the NBA Summer League.
And recently, it’s taken the shape of a red-and-gold Christmas ornament full of surprises to promote “The Christmas Spectacular” starring the Radio City Rockettes — the classic New York City show that runs every holiday season through early January.
“To have the opportunity for the Rockettes to be a part of Sphere in Las Vegas while we’re here in New York City — it’s just such an honor and it’s something, sort of, unimaginable,” said Danelle Morgan, assistant choreographer and dance captain for “The Christmas Spectacular.” “To imagine the Rockettes appearing 125 feet tall on the Exosphere, it’s insane. But it’s such a cool collaboration.”
Since the Exosphere was first lit and “really came alive” on the Fourth of July, it’s been a symbol of the Sphere’s creativity, which is at the heart of the venue and all that it does, said Guy Barnett, Sphere Entertainment’s senior vice president of brand strategy and creative development.
He pointed to how the Sphere often reflected on its outside what’s happening on its inside, like Exosphere promotions of the venue’s U2 residency or Darren Aronofsky’s film, “Postcard From Earth.”
“And so what we’ve always tried to do is demonstrate that art and creativity on the Exosphere really can power … people’s imagination,” said Barnett, whose department is responsible for the Exosphere’s content. “They can engage an audience, and it can create that sense of wonder, which is what our brand is all about.”
When developing images for the Exosphere — the world’s largest LED screen, made up of 1.2 million LED pucks — it’s important to consider two different audiences, Barnett said. Those who will view the Sphere in person, from on the ground, versus those who will see only glimpses of it on a screen, perhaps while scrolling through their social media feed.
When working with advertisers, Barnett said, his department is extremely conscious of both these audiences plus another challenging aspect — how to wrap any content 360 degrees around the Sphere.
“Rectangles are so last century,” he joked.
Appealing to both audiences of the Exosphere means using its entirety, not attempting to split content into three parts across its surface or show two completely different images on either side.
“Actually, when you treat it with the respect that a sphere deserves, you come up with a much more captivating solution,” Barnett said. “And I think we have found — with the work that we’ve done for ourselves — is that keeping those 360 degrees in mind, keeping those two audiences in mind, actually makes the work that much more compelling.”
This emoji is a continuing theme for the Exosphere.
The advertisement for “The Christmas Spectacular” starts with the imagery of a sparkling Christmas ornament, which cracks open to reveal a line of Rockettes decked out in red and white, dancing in near-perfect sync, with choreography culminating in the dance troupe’s famous kickline.
“That just made it so much more spectacular,” Barnett said of using a Sphere-sized Christmas ornament. “And so how we’re able to create the Exosphere is just something that we’re constantly learning new things (about) as we go along — and how we play with both of those audiences, both online and in person.”
His team challenges itself every day to produce something new that will “surprise and delight” people when they see the Sphere, Barnett said. One of the most exciting parts of the job is how to continue entertaining people, using the world’s “most-watched medium,” he said.
“The amount of love and affection that we’ve engendered has been overwhelming for us,” Barnett said, “in a way that we want to make sure that we live up to people’s expectations. We want to make sure that we don’t let people down with ideas that are less than special — less than worth sharing. And so we do set ourselves a challenge, but … it’s a great challenge to live up to.”
Asked his favorite piece of content that’s been created for the Exosphere thus far, Barnett said it’s always whatever his team is working on next.
“As you may have noticed, we’ve had some fun in the last six months,” said Barnett, who compared the programming of the Exosphere to a television network, meaning content is usually prepared weeks ahead of time.
The creative department behind the Exosphere comprises more than three dozen people, Barnett said, and the full process of placing any image on the screen involves even more — from designers to animators to typographers.
Each of the millions of lights that comprise the Exosphere must be told what to do and what color to turn to, Barnett said, and his team works diligently to make everything look “very special.”
“We’re human beings, and we love our audiences and we love the size of the audience that we’ve managed to get,” he said. “And it’s like — how many people do we get to watch this one? How many people do we get to engage or get the heart emoji from online? So it’s driven by that.”
The partnership between the Rockettes and the Sphere is cool because it merges a nearly 100-year-old concept with a brand-new form of technology, he said, in a way that serves them both in a “respectful, spectacular” way.
“What was really interesting about this is it used all of our skills throughout Madison Square Garden and Sphere and the Rockettes organization,” he said. “And it was really a coming together of these three organizations, which created the magic.”
The Rockettes are known for the precision and specificity of their dancing, Morgan said, and the Sphere took it all to “the next level.” Fifteen of the dancers were filmed for the promotion, five at a time, and they had to be even more careful than usual about remaining in sync.
The Sphere’s size is not quite so forgiving of mistakes as a live theater or even a television performance may be, she said, but the creative challenge just made the whole experience.
“With this opportunity with Sphere, it was so cool because we really felt like we were able to bring the holiday cheer and the Christmas joy to Las Vegas and to have a little touch of New York City in Las Vegas,” she said. “And when everything was revealed, to see all the coverage on social media and to know that we were a part of that — it feels iconic. It’s one of those moments that you truly pinch yourself.”
