This is truly a wonderful show. The musical intertwines family, dreams, and reality, following Billy as he discovers his own path while also coming to understand the love of his father, grandmother, and brother. I first saw the show at the Broadway premiere at the Imperial Theatre in 2008 and later in Korea in 2017, but as time passed, I could no longer fully explain what had moved me so deeply. Watching it again this time, I can finally articulate it. At its heart, the show is about the love people still carry for one another, even in the middle of difficult and unforgiving lives.

After Billy’s mother dies, Jackie does not know how to raise his young son. Even while struggling through the miners’ strike, he still gives Billy fifty pence for boxing lessons. At first he cannot understand Billy’s dream and tries to stop him, but once he finally realizes what ballet means to his son, he goes to see Mrs. Wilkinson and later tells the people at the Royal Ballet School that he will do everything he can to support Billy’s studies there. For Billy, who misses his mother and cannot be sure of his father’s unspoken love, that moment must have felt like a surge of electricity, just as powerful as discovering ballet itself.

The miners who refuse to strike and are branded traitors also help Billy pursue his dream. The men who criticize Jackie for returning to the mine eventually collect their spare change so Billy can travel for his Royal Ballet School audition. The mining industry that once sustained the town has probably disappeared by now, but what remains is the memory of a community. Even people divided by politics and circumstance eventually stop fighting and come together for one boy. That warmth is one of the most moving parts of the show.

British films and musicals often avoid stating their themes directly. Instead, they leave room for the audience to feel and understand things on their own. That may be one reason why Billy Elliot has remained so beloved. The warmth of the people around Billy matters just as much as Billy himself. This time, I also realized that Mrs. Wilkinson is not really portrayed as part of the struggling mining class, but as someone closer to the middle class.

For the first time, I clearly heard references to the Ballets Russes and to Sergei Diaghilev. I had recently seen the Korean original musical Diaghilev, and because of that, lines that once passed me by suddenly stood out. You really do see and hear more when you know more.

The staging was almost exactly as I remembered it, except for the projections of mine nationalization and Margaret Thatcher at the beginning, which were shown across a transparent scrim. It was wonderful to see Billy’s house and upstairs bedroom again, and the Act One finale, “Angry Dance,” was just as thrilling as ever. I found myself growing more and more excited as the duet with adult Billy, the tap dance with Michael, and “Electricity” drew closer. Eighteen years have passed since I first saw the show on Broadway, but the blocking and staging remain almost unchanged, and the emotional impact felt just as strong.

In 2017, I saw the youngest Billy in the Korean production, and this time I again saw the youngest actor in the role. I was sitting on the aisle, so Billy and small boy passed very close by me at the beginning and the end, respectively. Although the actor playing Billy had just turned ten, he seemed taller up close than he did from the stage. At the same time, his face still looked so young that he could easily have played small boy instead. He sang very well, with a clear placement that made the notes sound immediate and natural. His voice had not yet changed, and he was impressive in ballet, tap, and tumbling alike. He performed several tumbling passes without using his hands and had remarkable flexibility and bounce.

The Billy I saw in 2017 tended to scoop slightly into notes and emphasize the first note of phrases. Looking back at videos of the other Billys from that production, they all seemed to sing in a similar way, which suggests that this may have been part of their training. This Billy was much more natural in the way he approached pitches, though the emphasis on the first note was still similar.

The adult Billy was played by Lim Sun-woo, who had played Billy in the original Korean production and is now a principal dancer with the Universal Ballet Company of Korea. When the two Billys danced together, the adult Billy’s extraordinary technique was immediately clear. The younger Billy danced beautifully as well, but next to the adult version of himself, he still looked like a child, which only made him more endearing.

The most beautiful moment came during the Swan Lake sequence, when the two Billys danced with chairs. The younger Billy could not perform exactly the same choreography because the chair was too large for him, so he had slightly different movements in order to control it. But that made the scene even more moving. Watching this small boy manage such a large object while dancing made it easy to imagine the brilliant future ahead of him as a primo ballerino. It was the scene I had looked forward to the most, and it was every bit as beautiful as I remembered.

The sound design was the only disappointment. It is still in previews, so I assume it will be adjusted, but overall the volume was set far too low. Some of the grandmother’s songs and the early dialogue between Billy and Michael were difficult to hear. When the sound was audible, however, it was very clean, and the diction was impressively clear.

It was also memorable that director Ed Burnside gave a speech before the performance. Because the production relies on so many young performers, the company runs a Billy School for more than a year to train them. Seoul may not be a small British mining town, but this Billy Elliot company created its own sense of community, and that warmth could be felt throughout the performance.