When Minneapolis’ Children’s Theatre Company won the “Outstanding Regional Theater” Tony in 2003, Broadway was gradually becoming a destination for family vacations, where children, parents and grandparents could gather in a theater and enjoy an all-ages show. And Disney had a lot to do with that, adapting its animated features into such Broadway hits as “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Lion King” and “Aladdin.”

Among the 10 tuneful toons Disney’s brought to the stage is “Frozen,” and Children’s Theatre is currently doing an excellent imitation of a Broadway production with its version. If you weren’t aware that the original film is a cultural phenomenon, attend one of CTC’s performances and witness a lobby teeming with little girls attired in princess costumes or carrying stuffed snowmen.

Once inside the theater, those young devotees are unlikely to be disappointed, for this production dazzles with its stagecraft, finely executed full-cast dance numbers and sweet, powerful singing voices.

CTC has proved its versatility with widely varied styles and stories over the years, and “Frozen” makes a convincing case that it can do what modern Broadway does – and very well. Director Tiffany Nichole Greene has marshalled a team of 26 performers into a well-oiled unit that meets this musical’s ample demands with energy, enthusiasm and a sense of joy. And Rush Benson’s choreography is unfailingly exhilarating.

Then there’s the design, which is outstanding in all regards. Set designer Scott Davis has created a fascinating winter wonderland, complemented splendidly by Michael Salvatore Commendatore’s projections and Ari Fulton’s costumes that run from regal to rustic.

“Frozen” is loosely based upon Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen,” but transforms it into a celebration of sisterhood, in which two siblings are separated for most of their lives because one of them possesses magical powers that can prove harmful. So much so that her exile sends her kingdom into a permanent Arctic state. It’s her sister’s quest to find her and break the spell that drives the action.

Alas, that action is frequently interrupted by pop-rock production numbers that don’t really have much to do with driving the story forward. While songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez have penned some lovely, heart-filling ballads (such as the big hit that closes the first act, “Let It Go,” and the two sisters’ earnest duet, “I Can’t Lose You”), there are multiple uninspired and instantly forgettable up-tempo tunes that burst forth apropos of almost nothing.

Yet this cast, orchestra and technical team do everything in their power to sell this so-so material. As Anna, the sister whose journey drives the tale, Julia Ennen ably carries the musical’s comic and romantic elements with an engaging characterization and a fine voice. Speaking of voices, Gillian Jackson Han displays an excellent one as the sister who becomes queen, Elsa. There’s always been a certain iciness about monarchs and hers is particularly appropriate, yet Han allows you to see the sadness inside it.

When Anna heads into the mountains to find her sister, we’re introduced to another pair of standout performers in the strong-voiced Matthew Hall as her iceman guide and Laura Marie as a clownish snowman.

While “Frozen” isn’t a great stage musical, CTC’s production is quite entertaining. And the fan girls should definitely dig out the princess costumes and go.

‘Frozen’

When: Through June 15

Where: Children’s Theatre Company, 2400 Third Ave. S., Mpls.

Tickets: $104-$20, available at 612-874-0400 or childrenstheatre.org

Capsule: A so-so musical gets a production delightful to both eyes and ears.

Related Articles

Theater review: Penumbra’s ‘When We Are Found’ celebrates love and resilience

Theater review: Guthrie’s ‘Nacirema Society’ turns out to be all about love and laughter

Theater review: ‘Mean Girls’ at Ordway is a satire that lacks spark and clarity

Review: History Theatre’s ‘Secret Warriors’ a gripping take on a seldom-told story

Theater review: Guthrie’s ‘Mousetrap’ is enjoyably faithful to Agatha Christie

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A family in Oklahoma was wrongly targeted when federal immigration agents raided their home while serving a search warrant as they looked for members of a human smuggling operation, a federal official said Thursday.

Related Articles

Judge bars deportations of Venezuelans from South Texas under 18th-century wartime law

The Justice Department ended a decades-old school desegregation order. Others are expected to fall

Cheap parcels from China will no longer be duty-free. Here’s what it means for buyers and sellers

Musk defends his work as he prepares to wind down at DOGE but gives hazy answers on future

Trump taps national security adviser Waltz for UN envoy in major national security team switch-up

The family — a mother and her three daughters — told KFOR-TV they had just moved into the home in Oklahoma City about two weeks earlier and had tried to tell the agents that the suspects listed in the search warrant did not live at the house.

The television station did not name the mother, who said she and her daughters were traumatized by the experience, as a group of 20 armed men busted through their door early in the morning on April 24.

The mother said the agents forced them out of the home, outside in the rain, wearing only their undergarments.

The mother said the agents were very dismissive as she tried to tell them they had recently moved into the home from Maryland and that the names on the search warrant were not hers or anyone in her family.

The agents took their phones, computers, and life savings in cash, the mother said.

In a statement, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security official said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had been carrying out a court-authorized search warrant as part of a “large-scale human smuggling investigation” involving Guatemalan citizens.

“The search warrants included the location of an address where U.S. citizens recently moved. The previous residents were the intended targets,” the senior Homeland Security official said in the statement.

In the statement, the official did not address the mother’s claims that her family’s money and phone were seized and have not been returned.

A second grader was found with a gun at a St. Paul elementary school Thursday, police say.

The child had the handgun in his pocket at Bruce Vento Elementary School on Case Avenue and Arkwright Street.

He said he brought it from home to show his friends, according to Sgt. Toy Vixayvong, a St. Paul police spokesman. A teacher found the gun and police were notified about 11:30 a.m.

In a message to parents, Principal Nicole Napierala wrote, “We do not believe the student planned to use the weapon, nor were any threats made.”

“If you have any weapons in your home, make sure they are safely stored and not accessible,” the letter continued. “You are encouraged to say something if you see or hear any safety concerns.”

Police are investigating who the gun belongs to and how the child accessed it, Vixayvong said.

Related Articles

Metro State University lockdown prompted by man firing shots at his mother

3 hurt in shooting in St. Paul apartment; police arrest 1 of the injured

Duluth man charged in high-speed crash that killed nun

Australian stands trial for murder of ex-husband’s family using death cap mushrooms

Slow down and look up: Extra law enforcement on MN roads starting Thursday

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI, Associated Press

A federal judge on Thursday barred the Trump administration from deporting any Venezuelans from South Texas under an 18th-century wartime law and said President Donald Trump’s invocation of it was “unlawful.”

U.S. District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. is the first judge to rule that the Alien Enemies Act cannot be used against people who, the Republican administration claims, are gang members invading the United States.

“Neither the Court nor the parties question that the Executive Branch can direct the detention and removal of aliens who engage in criminal activity in the United States,” wrote Rodriguez, who was nominated by Trump in 2018. But, the judge said, “the President’s invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute’s terms.”

Related Articles

The Justice Department ended a decades-old school desegregation order. Others are expected to fall

Cheap parcels from China will no longer be duty-free. Here’s what it means for buyers and sellers

Musk defends his work as he prepares to wind down at DOGE but gives hazy answers on future

Trump names Secretary of State Rubio as acting national security adviser, taps Waltz for UN envoy

Rubio calls India and Pakistan in effort to defuse crisis over Kashmir attack

In March, Trump issued a proclamation claiming that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was invading the U.S. He said he had special powers to deport immigrants, identified by his administration as gang members, without the usual court proceedings.

“The Court concludes that the President’s invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and, as a result, is unlawful,” Rodriguez wrote.

The Alien Enemies Act has only been used three times before in U.S. history, most recently during World War II, when it was cited to intern Japanese-Americans.

The proclamation triggered a flurry of litigation as the administration tried to ship migrants it claimed were gang members to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

Rodriguez’s ruling is significant because it is the first formal permanent injunction against the administration using the AEA and contends the president is misusing the law. “Congress never meant for this law to be used in this manner,” said Lee Gelernt, the ACLU lawyer who argued the case, in response to the ruling.

Rodriguez agreed, noting that the provision has only been used during the two World Wars and the War of 1812. Trump claimed Tren de Aragua was acting at the behest of the Venezuelan government, but Rodriguez found that the activities the administration accused it of did not amount to an invasion or “predatory incursion,” as the statute requires.

“The Proclamation makes no reference to and in no manner suggests that a threat exists of an organized, armed group of individuals entering the United States at the direction of Venezuela to conquer the country or assume control over a portion of the nation,” Rodriguez wrote. “Thus, the Proclamation’s language cannot be read as describing conduct that falls within the meaning of ‘invasion’ for purposes of the AEA.”

If the administration appeals, it would go first to the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That is among the nation’s most conservative appeals courts and it also has ruled against what it saw as overreach on immigration matters by both the Obama and Biden administrations. In those cases, Democratic administrations had sought to make it easier for immigrants to remain in the U.S.

The administration, as it has in other cases challenging its expansive view of presidential power, could turn to appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, in the form of an emergency motion for a stay pending an appeal.

The Supreme Court already has weighed in once on the issue of deportations under the AEA. The justices held that migrants alleged to be gang members must be given “reasonable time” to contest their removal from the country. The court has not specified the length of time.

It’s possible that the losing side in the 5th Circuit would file an emergency appeal with the justices that also would ask them to short-circuit lower court action in favor of a definitive ruling from the nation’s highest court. Such a decision likely would be months away, at least.

The Texas case is just one piece of a tangle of litigation sparked by Trump’s proclamation.

The ACLU initially filed suit in the nation’s capital to block deportations. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg issued a temporary hold on removals and ordered the administration turn around planes that had left with detainees headed to El Salvador, a directive that was apparently ignored. Later, the Supreme Court weighed in.

The justices stepped in again late last month with an unusual postmidnight order halting deportations from North Texas, where the ACLU contended the administration was preparing for another round of flights to El Salvador.

Riccardi reported from Denver. Associated Press writers Lindsay Whitehurst and Mark Sherman contributed to this report.