Wicked Lyrics - Wonderful and Sentimental Man

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ON THIS PAGE: "Wonderful," "Sentimental Man," information about the songs and Joel Grey

Wicked Lyrics are by Stephen Schwartz

"Sentimental Man" - Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Copyrighted)

WIZARD
I am a sentimental man
Who always longed to be a father
That's why I do the best I can
To treat each citizen of Oz as a son -
Or daughter
So Elphaba, I'd like to raise you high
'Cuz I think everyone deserves
The chance to fly
And helping you with your ascent al-
Lows me to feel so parental
For I am a sentimental man

"Wonderful" - Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Copyrighted)

WIZARD
I never asked for this
Or planned it in advance
I was merely blown here
By the winds of chance
I never saw myself
As a Solomon or Socrates
I knew who I was:
One of your dime a dozen
Mediocrities

Then suddenly I'm here
Respected - worshipped, even
Just because the folks in Oz
Needed someone to believe in
Does it surprise you
I got hooked, and all too soon?
What can I say?
I got carried away
And not just by balloon:

Wonderful
They called me "Wonderful"
So I said "Wonderful" - if you insist
I will be Wonderful--"
And they said "Wonderful"
Believe me, it's hard to resist
'Cause it feels wonderful
They think I'm wonderful
Hey, look who's wonderful -
This corn-fed hick
Who said: "It might be keen
To build a town of green
And a wonderful road of yellow brick!"

(spoken) See - I never had a family of my own. So, I
guess I just - wanted to give the citizens of Oz everything.

ELPHABA(spoken) So you lied to them.

WIZARD
(spoken) Elphaba, where I'm from, we believe all sorts of
things that aren't true. We call it - "history."

(sung) A man's called a traitor - or liberator
A rich man's a thief - or philanthropist
Is one a crusader - or ruthless invader?
It's all in which label
Is able to persist
There are precious few at ease
with moral ambiguities
So we act as though they don't exist

They call me "Wonderful"
So I am wonderful
In fact - it's so much who I am
It's part of my name
And with my help, you can be the same
At long, long last receive your due
Long overdue
Elphaba - The most celebrated
Are the rehabilitated
There'll be such a - whoop-de-doo
A celebration throughout Oz
That's all to do - with you

Wonderful
They'll call you wonderful:

ELPHABA
It does sound wonderful:

WIZARD
Trust me - it's fun

BOTH
When you are wonderful
It would be wonderful?
Wonderful, wonderful

WIZARD
One! Two! And:
(they dance)

About the Songs "Sentimenal Man" and "Wonderful"

Short excerpt from the Stephen Schwartz biography, Defying Gravity.

[After the San Francisco pre-Broadway production in San Francisco]....As a group, the creative team decided to replace Robert Morse (Wizard) with Joel Grey, Kirk McDonald (Boq) with Christopher Fitzgerald, and John Horton (Dr. Dillamond) with William Youmans—changes they believed would support their new plans for the script.

They had asked Grey two years before but he was busy and didn't take it seriously. But then he was told about the father aspect of the role—

I am a sentimental man/ Who always longed to be a father. / That's why I do the best I can/ To treat each citizen of Oz /As son or daughter.

"That sounded interesting to me," reports Grey about the Wizard of Oz character. "That he never had that [experience of fatherhood] in his life and here he is in a very alien land."

For printed lyrics & script (partial) see Wicked: The Grimmerie

About Joel Grey

Joel Grey played the Wizard of Oz in Wicked's original Broadway cast. Hear him on Wicked's Original Cast Album. Grey is wonderful singing "Wonderful" - and dancing with Elphaba.

OZ-RELATED: The Wizard of Oz in Concert (St. Louis...) - video Amazon.com [new browser window] This remarkably cast production includes Joel Grey as Wizard, Debra Winger as the Wicked Witch, Natalie Cole as Glinda, Nathan Lane as the Cowardly Lion.....

Joel Grey received a Tony Award as the Emcee in the original production of Cabaret and an Academy Award for his work in the film. Stage: Amos Hart in the hit revival of Chicago (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards); Give Me Your Answer, Do! (Roundabout, Drama Desk nom.); Harry, Noon and Night (American Place); George M! (Tony nom.); Goodtime Charley (Tony nom.); Marco Polo Sings a Solo, The Normal Heart (NYSF); Platonov (Williamstown); The Grand Tour (Tony nom.); Silverlake (NYCO); Cabaret (20th anniversary); When We Dead Awaken (ART); Herringbone (Hartford Stage); A Fool and Her Fortune (NYS&F).

Film: Man on a Swing, Buffalo Bill and the Indians, The Seven Percent Solution, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, Kafka, The Player, The Music of Chance, The Fantasticks, Dancer in the Dark.....[find more online on other sites.]