Jeff Goldblum saved Wicked’s worst song
Jeff Goldblum did the impossible Bad: Part I: He saved “A Sentimental Man” from being the worst song in the musical.
Like any normal musical theater fan and Bad Enthusiast, I have passionate thoughts about how to rank the songs from the Broadway musical. And before the 2024 film, I would have put the Wizard of Oz song “A Sentimental Man” last on my rankings. It’s slow, it’s boring, and it doesn’t add much to the plot at all. Even though the original Broadway song is only 76 seconds long, it feels like a whole act in itself.
Listen: every musical has its duds. I share often”That song in every musical that no one likes” (as performed by Sarah Smallwood Parsons of the Upright Citizens Brigade) with other musical theater fans in discussing a particular type of Broadway song. They always know exactly what kind of song Parsons and I mean: a slow song that is mostly talked about, with a very limited range and little to no plot relevance. Heck, the second line of Parsons’ song even calls out “A Sentimental Man” as one of these duds.
‘A Sentimental Man’ isn’t the only ‘older man who kind of talks-sings with a slow tempo’ song on the Bad soundtrack. But at least the other Act I song that falls into that category, “Something Bad,” has a lot of exposition (and some funky goat noises), while Act II’s “Wonderful” benefits from being the song where the Wizard story more fully revealed. manipulative character. In contrast, all ‘A Sentimental Man’ does is vaguely hint at the wizard’s motives.
In Bad: Part IBut Goldblum amps up the charm in his performance of this dull, unimportant song. Make no mistake: ‘A Sentimental Man’ is still at the end of my list, but some interesting staging and the sheer charisma of Jeff Goldblum now puts it above ‘Something Bad’. He imbues it with the perfect level of cleverness, standing atop a miniature mountain in his miniature replica of Oz and literally talking to Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande). The original Broadway version of “Sentimental Man” is condescending, but Goldblum nails the tone, vacillating between an almost uncomfortably tacky charisma and a superiority complex from someone who is literally a god to all of Oz.
That, combined with the little dance where, while you were sitting behind the curtain – behind the curtain! – he moves the miniature moon hanging in the sky and changes the landscape on his diorama from day to night, which really enhances the Wizard’s slimy con artist vibes more than the original song does. To our eyes it’s obviously a lot of practical stage effects, but to Glinda and Elphaba it looks like he’s moving heavenly bodies.
Will I still skip “A Sentimental Man” when I go to the Bad soundtrack? Maybe. Probably. After all, Goldblum’s physicality and the film’s staging and set design are huge factors in making the scene work. But instead of automatically skipping it, I might decide to include it as a breather between the breathless hurrahs of “One Short Day” and the triumphant highs of “Defying Gravity.” At least with this version of ‘A Sentimental Man’ I’m not tempted to take a quick nap.