Character guide
The Wizard
from Wicked
The Wizard is the mysterious ruler of Oz in Wicked, the 2003 Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz.
- Show
- Wicked
- Broadway premiere
- 2003
- Role
- Supporting
- Music by
- Stephen Schwartz
The Wizard on stage vs screen
Broadway compared with the 2024 and 2025 Wicked films
The Wizard's big number changes shape on screen. On stage, Wonderful is a duet in which the Wizard tries to win Elphaba over, explaining how an ordinary man came to be revered by the people of Oz. In Wicked: For Good (2025) it becomes a trio, with Glinda joining the Wizard and Elphaba.
Robert Morse played the Wizard in the show's 2003 San Francisco tryout, and Joel Grey originated the role on Broadway later that year. The stage Wizard also sings A Sentimental Man when Elphaba and Glinda first meet him. Jeff Goldblum plays the Wizard in both films, Wicked (2024) and Wicked: For Good.
Who is the Wizard?
The Wizard presents himself as the all powerful figurehead of Oz, but beneath the showmanship lies a man far more ordinary, and far more calculating, than his public image suggests. His relationship to Elphaba shifts across the story, moving from apparent mentorship to a much darker reveal about how he actually holds onto power.
His presence looms over the entire narrative even when he is offstage, since so much of Oz's political and social order is built around maintaining his myth.
Playing the Wizard on stage
As a supporting role, the Wizard is not the emotional lead of Wicked, but he is pivotal to its central themes about propaganda, image, and truth. The part calls for a performer who can be charming and avuncular one moment and unsettling the next, using warmth as a kind of mask that slowly slips.
His songs and scenes require confident stage presence and strong comic and dramatic instincts, since the character has to be believable both as a beloved public figure and as someone far less trustworthy underneath.
Why the Wizard resonates
Audiences find the Wizard compelling because he complicates simple ideas of good and evil. He is a reminder that power in Wicked is often built on performance and perception rather than genuine authority, which gives the role real thematic weight.
The Wizard: frequently asked questions
What show is the Wizard from?
The Wizard is a character from Wicked, the Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, which opened in 2003.
Is the Wizard a lead or supporting role?
The Wizard is a supporting role whose influence over Oz shapes the story's central conflicts.
Who wrote the music for Wicked?
Stephen Schwartz wrote the music and lyrics for Wicked.
Think you can name today's mystery character in eight guesses?
Play today's Character Guesser