When artistic director Chris Smith first was introduced to the show “Oliver Button is a Sissy” several years ago, he knew it was a performance he eventually wanted to introduce to the South Coast Chorale, Long Beach’s LGBTQ chorus.

“I said, ‘One day I want to do that with my singers, but it needs to be the right timing,’” Smith said. “It needs to be when it’s when it’s going to have kind of the greatest impact on the community.”

To Smith, the time is now, and on March 11, community members can attend the first local performance of the production, in collaboration with several other Long Beach performing arts nonprofits.

The 30-minute semi-staged musical adaptation of a children’s book by Tomie DePaola, with music and lyrics by Alan Shorter, features themes of identity, acceptance and anti-bullying.

Unlike many other boys his age, Oliver Button doesn’t like to play sports or partake in other typical gendered activities, explained Smith. Instead, he likes to draw, dress up in costumes, sing and dance.

“The story really just celebrates the fact that as long as you believe in yourself and as long as you just continue to celebrate who you are as a person, eventually everyone else will acknowledge that too,” Smith said.

Beginning in 1990 as a community vocal ensemble, the South Coast Chorale was founded to provide a safe space for the LGBTQ community.

“The ‘90s was kind of a rough time for the LGBTQ community, and it was created by the artistic director at that time as a place where music can be used as a vehicle to promote acceptance and to promote welcomeness and belonging,” said Smith.

Over the years, the organization has kept that philosophy, but it now emphasizes more interconnectivity between communities, Smith said.

“One of the vehicles that we use to share that sentiment is music, which is a universal language,” Smith said.

Amid political polarization and anti-LGBTQ legislation spreading across the country, having an organization like the South Coast Chorale promoting acceptance is even more important, Smith said.

“Organizations like the South Coast Chorale remind people that it is OK to be who you are, it is OK to live your life the way you want to live, it is OK to love who you love … the opinions of other people really shouldn’t matter,” Smith said.

The South Coast Chorale, Long Beach’s LGBTQ chorus, was founded in 1990. Today, about 50 singers are involved in the organization. Courtesy photo.

The South Coast Chorale of today includes about 50 singers, about 30 volunteers, a staff of four and three interns, plus a board of eight.

“There’s just such an incredible energy and incredible love and an incredible passion to share these stories that are sometimes fun and light-hearted stories, and are sometimes really kind of gut-wrenching stories,” Smith said.

The South Coast Chorale typically performs three concerts each year, and auditions are usually held each August and January, although singers are generally welcomed at any time, Smith said.

“We have singers that have been with the group since the ’90s. We have singers that just joined at the beginning of this year,” Smith said. “But on average, the longevity is pretty decent.”

Singers also regularly volunteer, from beach cleanups to participating in collection events with the nonprofit Love in the Mirror.

“Our concerts share about building bridges between communities, but it’s important that we also do that in practice,” Smith said.

Past concerts have highlighted the intersection between the LGBTQ movement and the civil rights movement, including a 2018 performance of “Bayard Rustin the Man Behind the Dream,” a choral tribute to the life and accomplishments of openly gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin.

“We partnered with the NAACP, we partnered with some other organizations in Long Beach to really make it a true community event,” Smith said. “And I think it was really powerful.”

A couple of years later, the organization performed “Street Requiem” during the city’s annual homeless memorial, honoring those who have lived and died on the streets.

“I think of things that really have not only set a tone, I think, for who the chorale is, and the impact that we can have on the community, but also, just were incredibly powerful events to just be part of as a human, as an individual, and I’m proud of those two things,” Smith said.

Smith suspects that the upcoming performance of “Oliver Button is a Sissy” will “be right up there with those,” he said.

With collaboration from both adult and youth musicians of Musique Sur La Mer Youth and Professional Orchestras, as well as youth actors from the The Kids Theatre Company and adult actors from the Landmark Theatre Company, the “Oliver Button” concert is a true community partnership, Smith said.

“In order to have a powerful impact on the community, you actually need to involve the community,” he said.

Although the South Coast Chorale does not typically perform with youth, “Oliver Button” will also be performed for school groups attending field trips, and it is important for youth attending to see themselves reflected in the performance, Smith said.

The performance will also be narrated by Benni Latham, who is the voice of Dot Malto in the Nickelodeon and Paramount+ animated series, “Transformers: EarthSpark.”

“It’s fun, it’s funny, it’s redeeming, and it has just a really powerful message,” Smith said.

Tickets for “This Is Me: Featuring ‘Oliver Button is a Sissy’” are available for Saturday, March 11, at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at The Beverly O’Neill Theater, 300 East Ocean Blvd. Tickets range from $15 to $60 and can be purchased here.