Now playing through July 26 at the Ogunquit Playhouse is “Billy Elliot the Musical,” offering up astounding performances of song and dance.

This show continues where the 2000 film version leaves off and features a score written by none other than Elton John, winning 10 Tony awards in 2009. There are two diverse themes that occur in this show: The first is the nationalization of the coal mines in England following the Second World War and the subsequent closing by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of low-producing mines, which put more than 200,000 miners, mostly in northern England, out of work. The second theme is the taboo of boys studying ballet, the implication being that those who do must be homosexuals. The fact that these dancers need to have the same muscular strength as gymnasts or football players, in addition to the ability to move to music, was and probably still is irrelevant to its social acceptance.

The Ogunquit Playhouse is one of the first regional theatres in the country to create this musical for its stage. Members of the original Broadway creative team have been brought in to stage this show, including BT McNicholl who was the resident director for the Broadway production, and Adam Pelty, who served as resident choreographer for the original Broadway touring company.

There are many accomplished actors/singers/dancers in this show. While all are outstanding, there would be no performance without Noah Parets or Sam Faulkner, the two young boys who take turns in performing the title role, on alternate presentations. I happened to be privileged to see Noah Parets, and while any talented youngster could be coached to speaking with a decidedly Yorkshire accent, and coached to learning to sing the beautiful songs by Elton John, it took an unusually gifted one who had the ability, training and grace to be able to perform classical ballet along with decidedly creative modern dance as well.

I literally could not believe that someone so young could be that good. He is the equivalent in dance to what Pearlman achieved on the violin or Yo Yo Ma achieved on the cello at that age.

The story develops through many musical numbers, starting with “The Stars Look Down” presented by the full company, which takes place on the eve of the Miners Strike in 1984. The next scene shifts the story to its secondary theme of dance with the lively “Shine,” which features Anastasia Barzee as Mrs. Wilkinson, the teacher of untalented girls. One of her notable lines: “You look like a spastic starfish.”

Meanwhile, Billy is slow to the leave the area after a failed boxing instruction, and is captivated watching the ballet lesson. The teacher encourages Billy to participate and soon realizes that he has talent. We are then introduced to Billy’s salty-mouthed grandmother, played by Dale Soules, in the number “We Go Dancing” whose memorable line is “Never be sober.”

We soon return to the miners with the powerful singing of “Solidarity.” It should be stated that while the ladies sing, and sing well, the bulk of the singing is done by the men, who portray the miners. They all have very good voices and their singing is sure, in tune and superbly cohesive.

Back to the dancing: Billy has a friend, Michael (Alec Shiman) who lends a deft comic touch with a cross-dressing routine in the song “Expressing Yourself.” This, I believe, is the substance of the idea in the show, namely that young boys should be able to express themselves through the medium of dance. There are too many outstanding songs and dances to enumerate: the beautiful “Deep Into the Ground” sung by Armand Schultz, the singing/dancing of “Barzee,” the few but telling songs by Elysia Jordan, the superb dancing by Stephan Hanna, the truly stirring “Once We Were Kings,” and a full production number to take the place of curtain calls.

The singing and dancing, set against the backdrop of the miners’ plight, makes for a truly memorable show. There is good and then there is outstanding. This show is outstanding.

— Dr. Gold is a composer/conductor and an arts reviewer for the Journal Tribune.