"The Wizard and I" is a musical number

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

 from the hit musical Wicked

Wicked (musical)

Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard...

. It is primarily a solo number for the character of Elphaba, 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 Wizard. This begins Elphaba's desire to change herself, with the aid of the Wizard, whom she still believes to be genuine, and can help her with all of her problems. Elphaba also sings about redeeming herself in her father, Frexspar's, and her sister Nessarose

Nessarose

Nessarose Thropp is the name of the woman who becomes the Wicked Witch of the East in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Broadway adaptation, Wicked...

's eyes, and having the Wizard cure her of her sickly green appearance. Also, Elphaba dreams about becoming a new person, not only on the outside, but doing great deeds in league with the Wizard, and forming Oz

Land of Oz

Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...

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

Other Versions

John Barrowman

John Barrowman

John Scot Barrowman is a Scottish-American singer, actor, dancer, musical theatre performer and media personality. Born in Glasgow yet growing up in Illinois after his family emigrated to the United States when he was eight years old, Barrowman was encouraged to further his love for music and...

 has a reworking of the song for his self-titled album John Barrowman

John Barrowman (album)

John Barrowman is the self-titled third studio album by musician and actor, John Barrowman. Released on March 1, 2010, the album debuted at #11 on the UK Top 40 Albums Chart. This was the highest chart rating of any of Barrowman's albums to date....

titled The Doctor And I

Jack Harkness

Captain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. He first appeared in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "The Empty Child" and reappeared in the remaining episodes of the 2005 series as a companion of the ninth incarnation of the...

 which is a exclusive bonus track on iTunes

ITunes

iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....