All You Need is Love, Laughter, and the Beatles

The Movement You Need: An Evening with Brendan Hunt

Absolutely do not miss Emmy and SAG Award winner Brendan Hunt in his limited engagement, Broadway-bound, one-man show The Movement You Need: An Evening with Brendan Hunt. Coming to Hunt’s hometown Chicago fresh from a sold-out run at the Soho Playhouse in Manhattan, this auto-biographical emotional rollercoaster exceeds all expectations; hurtling from hilarity to heartbreak, with scarcely a moment to breathe in between. The Movement You Need delivers all the catharsis you need – eye-watering laughter, gut-wrenching loss, and tears of deepest joy. 

Well-known as the lovable Magoo-like Coach Beard of the hit Apple TV series Ted Lasso, Brendan Hunt is also the show’s co-creator and writer, with Jason Suedeikis. The two worked together at Amsterdam’s infamous comedy theater Boom Chicago, performing with Seth Meyers, Jordan Peele and many more. It was in Amsterdam that Hunt developed his love of soccer (or football the rest of the world knows it), without which Ted Lasso and The Movement You Need would never have been born. His solo show about this experience, Five Years in Amsterdam, was performed across the US including at Second City e.t.c.

Hunt (playwright/performer) is a Chicago native, actor, screenwriter and playwright now living in Los Angeles. Hunt has won acclaim for prior acting and writing work. His play Absolutely Filthy won Best Show at both the Hollywood Fringe Festival and the New York International Fringe Festival. For performance Hunt won the LA Theater’s Ovation Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and received a nomination for another Ovation Award. 

The Movement You Need is a stroll down a memory lane that is beloved as a childhood sweater, scarred as a favorite LP, and littered with hysterical Beatles impressions. Larger-than-life projections of candid family photos reinforce Hunt’s longing for rare moments of familial love that he is always trying to get back to. It is a love letter to Hunt’s troubled family and his troubled self. To the near misses and the direct hits of life. To the escape that is laughter and the relief of happy tears. It is an ode to knowing that what you need is right there with you. 

Hunt’s performance is a master class in storytelling. His transitions are lighting quick and clean, flicking between multiple styles seamlessly. His timing and delivery are flawless, in both the rollicking and the heartfelt moments. Hunt strums his painful history, dexterously weaving it into an experience that is at once a light-hearted comedy and an intensely intimate interaction of astounding vulnerability.

Under the astute direction of Ashley Rodbro, The Movement You Need is as close to perfection as is humanly possible. Rodbro focuses her work on musicals, comedy and original pieces. She has worked internationally in directorial capacities on Moulin Rouge!: The Musical, Hamilton, and multiple acclaimed comedy specials, as well as creating diverse film and digital content.  

This triumph of a show is produced by Tiwary Entertainment Group and TEG+ founder and Lead Producer Vivek J. Tiwary. TEG+ produces across the media spectrum, from stage, film, graphic novels and virtual reality and beyond. TEG+ productions have 25 Tony Awards, a Grammy, among many other accolades and achievements. Media financier/investor Vivek J. Tiwary is a renowned producer, with a Grammy and multiple Tony Award winning Broadway shows, and a history of groundbreaking immersive experiences. 

The talents of the creative team soar in concert with Hunt’s superlative creation. The audience enters to the simple homey set by scenic designer Meredith Ries, backed by a colorfully banded curtain recalling the old time TV test signal screen. Together these elements create an environment of surface order but with a looming promise of what is to come. 

Stefania Bulbarella’s projection design is crucial to the success; with meticulously enmeshed images highlighting the anecdotes and evoking emotional response. With Hunt’s background in lighting, Nick Solyom’s lighting design purposefully takes the focus in some hilarious sequences, and is perfectly subtly effective at shifting scene and tone in the remainder. Sound design by Kate Marvin enhances the punchlines, keeps the mood returning to lightheartedness, and builds the momentum throughout the journey. 

Brendan Hunt’s The Movement You Need is spectacularly funny and deeply intimate. It is an exquisite reminder that whatever the journey, the movement you need is always with you. 

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Soleil Rodrigue

The Movement You Need: an Evening with Brendan Hunt runs now through May 10, Tuesdays-Fridays at 7:30pm; Saturdays at 3:00pm and 7:30pm (no shows on Saturday May 9); Sundays at 3pm; and 7:30pm (Sunday, April 26 only). All shows are in Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s Downstairs theater, 1650 N. Halstead St., Chicago. 

Tickets are $55-105 and are available at steppenwolf.org/movement, 312-335-1650, or by visiting 1650 Halsted St. Chicago. Student rush tickets are $15 available at the box office on the day of the show one hour before showtime. 

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com