The story of Roberto Clemente’s legacy resonates much farther than the city of Pittsburgh, where he played professional baseball for 18 seasons for the Pirates.

Point Park University is partnering with composer and playwright Alki Steriopoulos to present the world premiere of the musical 21, the story of the life and death of Clemente.

Clemente was the first Latino baseball player to win both a National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) award and a World Series MVP award. He was also the first Latin American to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Clemente worked through discrimination to become one of the most well-known baseball players in the history of Major League Baseball. He was also a humanitarian who dedicated his life to helping the less fortunate.

Steriopoulos, who has worked with Point Park in the past, approached the Conservatory of Performing Art’s vice president and artistic director Ronald Lindblom for the idea for 21.

“After some exchanges and after he sent me the script and music, we decided this would be a wonderful opportunity,” Lindblom said during a phone interview. “We want students to have the experience [of being involved in a world premier] and we’ve done it in the past.”

Sophomore musical theater major Jeffrey Gorti, who plays Clemente, believes that it is important to tell the story of Clemente’s life and the impact he had on not only Pittsburgh, but the world as a whole.

“When I first got the role, I made sure to do my research on Roberto Clemente. His life…was a huge struggle. He was black and Latino, so he struggled racially…but he was such a humanitarian and he lost his life trying to help others,” Gorti said.

The cast of the show find it tiresome, yet humbling, to be a part of a show that has never been done before. Gorti pointed out that because this is a world premiere, the creative team is constantly adding and omitting songs and dance from the show until they see it as perfect.

“It can be frustrating at times because when you’re doing a musical, you can typically look at the original Broadway soundtrack to kind of get a sense of which direction to take a role,” Gorti said. “However, I personally have been having a lot more fun because…they’re changing the keys in a lot of songs to fit around us and writing a lot of the scenes around us because now they know what actors they have to work with.”

Actor and Director Richard Sabellico was hired to direct 21, which casts 31 University students. Sabellico has performed in several Broadway shows, playing Pastey in “Gypsy” and Rooster in “Annie.” 

Junior acting major Te’Era Coleman, who plays the role of Clemente’s deceased younger sister Anairis, shares similar views with Gorti when it comes to originating a role.

“I find it to be more frustrating than anything, but that frustration has been fuel for us to make this a success,” Coleman said. “They took an entire song away, but now I have a beautiful duet with Roberto at the end of act one. It’s a give and take process, really.”

21 not only focuses on Clemente’s life but on the lives of the women who inspired him the most – his mother, younger sister and wife.

Coleman believes that it is important to tell their story because of how influential they were to Clemente and how much they shaped him into becoming the man he was before his death.

“His younger sister passed away and she comes back [in the musical] and inspires him to think differently and to eventually see the winner within himself…she reminds him to forget about everything else that is blocking him from becoming as good as he can be. He was made up by the strong women in his life.”

Although 21 is a world premiere, this is not the first show to revolve around Clemente. 21 debuts just three and a half weeks after the show Clemente: The Legend of 21 opened in the Byham Theatre. 

Clemente: The Legend of 21 had a short run from Sept. 19 to 21 in downtown Pittsburgh. It also focused on the life and death of Clemente, as it was seen through the eyes of the people around him.

21 makes its world premiere Thursday, Oct. 16 at 8 p.m. University students get free admission to the show.