The Wizard and I

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"The Wizard and I"
Stephen Schwartz

"The Wizard and I" is a musical number from the hit musical Wicked. It is primarily a solo number for the character of Elphaba, serving as her "I Want" song, though the character Madame Morrible also sings in the introduction to the song.

Context

The song is performed in the beginning of the first act of the musical. In it, Madame Morrible tells Elphaba of her talents, and tells her that she will arrange a meeting with the

Nessarose's eyes. Also, Elphaba dreams about becoming a new person, not on the outside, but doing great deeds in league with the Wizard, and forming Oz
's "favorite team."

Music

"The Wizard and I" features the "Unlimited" theme present throughout the musical. In this piece, Elphaba prophesizes a celebration throughout Oz regarding her, though she does not know it regards her "death" at the end of the musical, after being "melted" by Dorothy, which Elphaba ironically sings about in saying that she is "so happy I could melt." She also imagines that "when people see me [Elphaba] they will scream" from love, not fear. Toward the song's climax, she declares that she will be the center of a "celebration throughout Oz" that occurs in the show's opening. Another notable characteristic of the song is the numerous times that the word "good" appears in the libretto.

The beginning of the song features many elements of the song "Making Good," which was cut from the final drafts of the musical.

The original German recording of this song, "Der Zauberer und ich", is sung by Dutch actress, Willemijn Verkaik. She sings this song in three languages - German, Dutch and English. In an interview, Verkaik said that for her, "The Wizard and I" is the hardest song for her to sing in the English productions. This is not the case for the German and Dutch productions, where "No Good Deed" was considerably harder.[1]

Cynthia Erivo version

"The Wizard and I"
YouTube

The song appears in the first part of Universal Pictures' two-part film adaptation of Wicked, released on November 22, 2024, sung by Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible.[2] It was released on the same day as part of the soundtrack album Wicked: The Soundtrack (2024) by Republic Records and Verve Records.[3]

Charts

Chart performance for "The Wizard and I" by Cynthia Erivo
Chart (2024) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[4] 92

Other versions

Doctor and I", which is an exclusive bonus track on iTunes. Ariana Grande, who plays Glinda in the two-part film adaptation of the musical, performed the song on the 2018 TV special A Very Wicked Halloween.[5] Ben Platt, son of Wicked producer Marc Platt, recorded a cover of the song for the album of MCC Theater's 25th annual "Miscast" gala and will perform it at the live event itself in April 2025.[6]

References

  1. YouTube
  2. ^ Anderton, Joe (9 October 2024). "Wicked movie soundtrack confirms which songs are in first movie". Digital Spy. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  3. ^ Paul, Larisha (9 October 2024). "'Wicked: The Soundtrack': Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo Perform Half of the Musical's Track List". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  4. ^ "Cynthia Erivo Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
  5. ^ "Watch Ariana Grande belt 'The Wizard and I' from NBC's 'Wicked' 15th anniversary special". Entertainment Weekly.
  6. ^ https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/miscast-mcc-album-broadway-d75810
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