While set in the turmoil of the mid-1980s miners’ strike in England, Signature Theatre’s production of Billy Elliot is a surprisingly hopeful and welcome respite from current political times. This charming musical with book and lyrics by the original 2000 film’s screenwriter Lee Hall and music by Sir Elton John charmed Broadway audiences ten years ago, winning the Tony Award for Best New Musical. It’s a nice fit for musically-minded Signature, and especially for director/choreographer Matthew Gardiner.

Billy Elliot is about Billy (Owen Tabaka), an 11-year-old boy living in a working class mining town who feels lost after his mother dies. While his father (Chris Genebach) pushes his son towards boxing lessons at the local gym, the gentle and goofy-spirited Billy finds that the facility’s dance classes are a better fit for him. As the stress of the miners’ strike plays out around Billy, he finds self-expression and a hidden talent in ballet. An opportunity to audition for the Royal Ballet School offers Billy a chance to escape his crumbling town, yet he doesn’t know whether he’s ready to leave his family and familiarity behind.

Tabaka is rightfully the star of this production. He shares the role with another actor, Liam Redford, (two Billys and two ensembles of child actors swap performances throughout the run). Unlike many young kids in musical theatre, Tabaka has a wide-eyed natural innocence that’s really enchanting to watch. He lacks any artifice and feels like the kid he’s playing—a young boy discovering his talents. This doesn’t mean he lacks skill: If anything, his ability to show a boy realistically transitioning from learning dance to becoming a dynamo takes a ton of bodily self-awareness and dance technique.

Genebach also shines as Billy’s father, making his own transition from gruff steeliness to tenderhearted warmth. Nancy Anderson is another standout out as Billy’s dance teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson, bringing a sharp, wit to break up some of the more maudlin moments of the show.

It’s no wonder that Matthew Gardiner directs Tabaka to play Billy with a youthful realism, having started his career as a child actor and dancer himself. There’s a deep, warm understanding of Billy’s journey that shows in scenes between Billy and his best friend Michael (played with earnest charm by Jacob Thomas Anderson) and Billy and his father.

But so much energy is put into Billy’s story that the background miners’ strike and depression of Billy’s hometown feels murky and distant. There’s plenty of talk about how Billy needs to get out of this dying “dinosaur” town, and yet most of how the audience sees this town, where miners fight a strike that leaves them out of work for a year, remains unchanged from beginning to end. Billy’s story rings as clear as a bell in this production, and yet the ashes that Billy’s phoenix leaps out of feel fairly invisible.

Still, Billy’s joyful journey takes center stage and that youthful spirit and energy feels very, very needed and welcome this holiday season.

Billy Elliot at Signature Theatre runs through January 6. Runtime 2 hours 45 minutes with intermission. Tickets $40-$106.