{"id":761833,"date":"2026-04-29T17:35:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T17:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/761833\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T17:35:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T17:35:22","slug":"the-beatles-and-brendan-hunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/761833\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beatles and Brendan Hunt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Full disclosure: I have yet to watch a single episode of Ted Lasso (I know!) But whether you\u2019re a diehard fan or not, Brendan Hunt\u2019s solo show, The Movement You Need, now onstage at Steppenwolf, is the show you may need to pick up your spirits a bit. Even if you\u2019re not a Beatles fan.<\/p>\n

The Movement You Need<\/strong>
Through 5\/10: Tue\u2013Fri 7:30 PM, Sat 3 and 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM; Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted, 312-335-1650, steppenwolf.org<\/a>, $55-$105<\/p>\n

The title and much of the inspiration for Hunt\u2019s show (directed by Ashley Rodbro) comes from the Fab Four\u2014specifically Paul\u2019s \u201cHey Jude\u201d and the line, \u201cthe movement you need is on your shoulder.\u201d Like Julian Lennon, for whom Paul wrote the song, Hunt is a child of divorce. And believe it or not, his childhood nickname was \u201cNa Na,\u201d causing him to think as a kid that the \u201cna na na na\u201d chorus in \u201cHey Jude\u201d was especially for him. (His mother\u2019s name was Martha, as in \u201cMartha My Dear.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Hunt\u2019s show is likely to end up on Broadway, as have other one-person shows that made Steppenwolf a stop along the road to the Great White Way in recent years, such as Mike Birbiglia\u2019s 2022 production of The Old Man and the Pool<\/a>. But there\u2019s special resonance to this current engagement, since Hunt grew up in Chicago and the show is stuffed with local connections and references. Hunt mostly grew up in Rogers Park, where his single mom worked as a bartender at Cunneen\u2019s, the beloved neighborhood watering hole. (His dad, a Vietnam vet with PTSD, pops up from time to time, most notably in a photo taken at a White Sox game\u2014one of several family photos and videos that provide sometimes uncomfortable laughs during the show.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Given what alcohol abuse ultimately did to his mother, bartending might not have been the best career path. But though their relationship was often fraught (\u201cI know that will shock you, the audience of a one-man show,\u201d he deadpans at one point), his mom also gave him a lifelong love of the Beatles. That obsession is woven through the piece, bookended by Hunt\u2019s story of meeting Paul McCartney in a recording studio where he was rehearsing for a tribute concert to the late Foo Fighters drummer, Taylor Hawkins. Early in the opening-night performance, Hunt asked if there was anyone in the audience who didn\u2019t like the Beatles. One person said yes, and turns out they were also named Brendan. \u201cThis just became a Twilight Zone episode,\u201d Hunt riffed.<\/p>\n

His ability to think on his feet (Hunt\u2019s had a long career in improv, including time at Amsterdam\u2019s Boom Chicago club) came in handy opening night in a way that shouldn\u2019t have been necessary: A woman in the audience decided everyone wanted to hear her thoughts at the top of her lungs. (Note to house management: Please remove people like this at the first offense, rather than giving them multiple chances to disrupt the show.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then again, dealing with a difficult woman is a theme of The Movement You Need. Throughout, Hunt also shows his own deft ability at self-deprecation, and how leaning into the oddball elements of his own personality helped him find a way through family trauma and into showbiz success. He even pulls up clips of one of the first sketches he wrote that showed up on public access TV. It\u2019s awful, of course, but it\u2019s key to understanding that everybody has to be able to fail to succeed. Which, from what I\u2019ve gleaned from fans, is a message that wouldn\u2019t be out of place in the television show Hunt cocreated.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for yarns about Ted Lasso, you won\u2019t find them here. But I have a feeling Hunt\u2019s got another show in him, and if it\u2019s as engaging and honest as this one, I\u2019ll be there for it.<\/p>\n

Reader Recommends: THEATER & DANCE<\/p>\n

Reader reviews of Chicago theater, dance, comedy, and performance arts.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tApril 21, 2026April 21, 2026\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Full disclosure: I have yet to watch a single episode of Ted Lasso (I know!) But whether you\u2019re…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":761834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[313110,313111,960,5386,1818,4289,77591,304612,313112],"class_list":["post-761833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-ashley-rodbro","tag-brendan-hunt","tag-chicago","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-listings","tag-reader-recommended","tag-steppenwolf-theatre","tag-the-movement-you-need"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116489206639475764","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=761833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/761834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=761833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=761833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=761833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}