Lin-Manuel Miranda, Please Write the Andre Agassi Musical
by Chris Peterson
Lin-Manuel Miranda was recently asked by ESPN which sports star deserves a musical. He immediately named Andre Agassi and pointed to Agassi’s autobiography, Open.
“This isn’t a goof, this is a pitch”, Miranda said. “It’s probably the best autobiography I’ve ever read.”
I agree, and I need him to take his own suggestion seriously. I’ve read Open, and it is fantastic.
I grew up playing tennis in the 1980s and ’90s, so Agassi was huge for me. He looked different from every other player on the court. He was a literal rock star on the court, playing with aggression and emotion rare for that time. Even people who never watched an entire tennis match knew who he was.
The public image only covers a small portion of his story.
His memoir talks about being pushed into tennis by a demanding father who decided very early that his son would become a champion. He became one of the greatest players in history while privately resenting the sport that had taken over his life. Agassi admits, “I play tennis for a living even though I hate tennis.”
There is enough conflict in that sentence to build an entire musical.
With Rocky, we’ve already seen how boxing can look on stage, so I’m very interested in the prospect of tennis.
I think we can all agree that Miranda knows how to take a famous person we think we understand and dig into the private fears behind the reputation. Agassi gives him plenty to work with: a career filled with very public victories alongside some painful collapses.
I am completely serious when I say I would invest in this musical. I would buy tickets the moment they went on sale. I would probably become one of those irritating people tracking every workshop and casting rumor.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, please do this.