Funny thing about Roald Dahl. Describe one of the English author’s macabre tales to a parent and they might be horrified that their child would be exposed to such a story. But the kids are usually just fine with it.

That has a lot to do with the sense of playfulness with which Dahl permeated his children’s books, and “The Enormous Crocodile” is a prime example. No story of his was more clearly designed for younger readers, yet the central figure is a beast intent upon eating a child.

Siobhan Athwal, left, and Ryan Crellin-Simpson in “The Enormous Crocodile,” a musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s book from England’s Roald Dahl Story Company, which will receive its U.S. premiere at Children’s Theatre Company. The production will run through Nov. 23, 2025, at the Minneapolis theater. (Glen Stubbe / Children’s Theatre Company)

But fear not: The theatrical adaptation currently being presented at Children’s Theatre Company’s smaller street-level space is wonderfully fun for all ages. Sporting a clever script and marvelously imaginative puppets, it’s an hour-long, smile-inducing delight.

Friday night marked the first U.S. performance of a production that comes to us from England, where it was co-produced by Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and Leeds Playhouse. Overseeing the staging is the Roald Dahl Story Company, which, interestingly, is owned by Netflix. But there’s nothing corporate about what’s onstage at CTC: It still has the homespun air of a performance in the park, intent upon engaging with the children in the audience and throwing in some funny easter eggs for the adults, too.

Yet don’t mistake its groundlings-friendly feel for a lack of professionalism, as the résumés of several among its cast and crew list stints with two of the world’s great theater companies, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre of Great Britain. Be it in the varied characterizations, colorful choreography, rapid-fire costume changes or a dazzling design scheme, this is a slick staging.

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The story is a simple one: The largest crocodile in the jungle has decided to consume a child for lunch. That seems an unlikely option until a troop of “Jungle Juniors” arrives for a campout in the wild. But the other anthropomorphized animals overcome their fears to save the kids.

Employing an Afropop-tinged score by Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab and a witty script and lyrics by Suhayla El-Bushra, there’s cleverness around every corner. For example, the story begins at a dental clinic where the crocodiles are having their teeth cleaned by birds. The Cockney crocs and Scottish birds introduce us to the idea that this cast will use a plethora of (all easily understandable) accents, most humorously the French-flavored snails.

Each animal is an imaginative amalgam of human and puppet. The title character is a stage-length beast built around a rolling chair on which the imperiously expressive Taya Ming sits and dreams up serving suggestions for her meal of children.

Blocking her path to this repast are Nia Stephen’s towering elephant; Ryan Crellin-Simpson as an endearing hippo who farts when frightened; Alison Arnopp as a vainly insecure avian showgirl; and Siobhan Athwal pulling impressive double duty as a monkey straight off a nightclub dancefloor and the adult troop leader.

Speaking of that troop, they’re the funniest puppets of all, bearing adult heads and child bodies. Their appearance was one of many instances in which laughter rang out from both adults and children at the opening night performance. Throw in some clever, catchy songs and you have the makings of a very enjoyable family theater outing.

Roald Dahl Story Company’s ‘The Enormous Crocodile’

When: Through Nov. 23

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

Tickets: $79-$25, available at 612-874-0400 or childrenstheatre.org

Capsule: Imaginative and tuneful, it’s great all-ages fun.

Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Top running back Darius Taylor was not listed on the Gophers’ unavailability report, setting up his return against No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday night.

The Gophers only listed two safeties as out against the Buckeyes — Aidan Gousby and Garrison Monroe — for the prime-time game at Ohio Stadium.

Taylor is the U’s most dynamic tailback, and the 6-foot, 215-pound junior missed the Rutgers and California games due to an apparent hamstring injury suffered early in the 66-0 win over Northwestern (La.) State on Sept. 6.

Taylor’s return is welcomed after Minnesota rushed for only 35 yards on 18 carries in the 31-28 win over Rutgers last weekend. Fame Ijeboi has 12 carries for 37 yards, and Cam Davis had three totes for eight yards.

Taylor has 33 carries for 161 yards and caught five passes for 45 yards across two victories over Buffalo and Northwestern State.

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Work is underway to build a new island in the Mississippi River near Hastings, a $10 million project aimed at preserving the lock-and-dam system that allows some 10 million tons of goods to be shipped along the river every year.

The human-made, arrowhead-shaped island represents a unique project on the Upper Mississippi, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“It’s really exciting for the team to see this being constructed,” said Nick Castellane, a project manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “We’ve been working on it for a number of years.”

About seven years ago, planning began on the project, due to longtime erosion along the embankment near the pool of water of Lock and Dam No. 2. The embankment itself was built with the portion of the dam in the 1930s.

As Castellane tells it, the size of Pool No. 2 allows for two miles of “wind fetch,” with wind building up speed across the water, causing waves to batter the embankment. Crashing ice every spring as the river clears also contributes to erosion along the embankment.

Modeling from the Army Corps engineer team shows that the new island should provide some shield for the embankment from those external factors.

If not for the island, the embankment would continue to erode, Castellane said, and once enough erosion occurred, the river could overflow its banks and reduce water levels in that portion of the lock-and-dam system, impacting barge navigation and recreational boating.

Long-term solution

During the planning stages, three ideas emerged. The Army Corps could pile heavy rock — “rip rap” — on the embankment, spending $1 million or so every three to five years and in the hope that it would hold off additional erosion.

Or construction crews could try to build out the embankment edge, creating a larger buffer, but that plan would impact waterflow patterns.

Planners felt both of those plans seemed to only provide temporary fixes, and the island emerged as a more long-term solution, expected to have more than a 50-year lifespan.

The locks and dams were installed nearly a century ago on the Upper Mississippi River so that boats hauling freight up and down the river could have easier passage.

How does the lock-and-dam system work? The upper river is divided into sections called pools, where a fixed amount of river is held back by a dam. This system creates a minimum 9-foot channel in the Upper Mississippi River. Each corresponding lock acts like a water elevator, bringing boats up or down to the water level of the next pool. Another analogy would be a staircase of water that boats and barges climb and descend.

Native ecosystem

Earth is currently being moved to build a 30-acre island in the Mississippi River near Hastings, Minn. A rendering shows the vegetation plan of the island, which is being created to curb erosion along an embankment on the pool near Lock and Dam No. 2. Work is about halfway complete, according to the Army Corps, and is expected to continue through 2027. (Courtesy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

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The island is about halfway complete, Castellane said, as project timelines are set to continue construction into summer 2026, with plans set for grass seeding in the fall of 2026 and, if the grass becomes established, tree planting in 2027.

Crews are currently mechanically dredging sediment from the river to build the new island. Castellane said upon completion, the aim is for the new land to provide a native ecosystem for plants and wildlife — hoping that the emergent wetland of the center of the island attracts frogs, snakes, turtles and birds.

“With the Mississippi Flyway being a major migratory route, we anticipate seeing a lot of avian wildlife,” Castellane said.

By THOMAS PEIPERT

The Trump administration plans to federalize 300 members of the Illinois National Guard, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker said Saturday.

Pritzker said the guard received word from the Pentagon in the morning that the troops would be called up. He did not specify when or where they would be deployed, but President Donald Trump has long threatened to send troops to Chicago.

“This morning, the Trump Administration’s Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will,” Pritzker said in a statement. “It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will.” ​

A spokesperson for the governor’s office said she could not provide additional details. The White House and the Pentagon did not respond to questions about Pritzker’s statement.

The escalation of federal law enforcement in Illinois follows similar deployments in other parts of the country. Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles over the summer and as part of his law enforcement takeover in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile Tennessee National Guard troops are expected to help Memphis police.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued to stop the deployment in Los Angeles and won a temporary block in federal court. The Trump administration has appealed that ruling that the use of the guard was illegal, and a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has indicated that it believes the government is likely to prevail.

Pritzker called Trump’s move in Illinois a “manufactured performance” that would pull the state’s National Guard troops away from their families and regular jobs.

“For Donald Trump, this has never been about safety. This is about control,” said the governor, who also noted that state, county and local law enforcement have been coordinating to ensure the safety of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Broadview facility on the outskirts of Chicago.

Federal officials reported the arrests of 13 people protesting Friday near the facility, which has been frequently targeted during the administration’s surge of immigration enforcement this fall.

Trump also said last month that he was sending federal troops to Portland, Oregon, calling the city war-ravaged. But local officials have suggested that many of his claims and social media posts appear to rely on images from 2020, when demonstrations and unrest gripped the city following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

City and state officials sued to stop the deployment the next day. U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut heard arguments Friday, and a ruling is expected over the weekend.

Trump has federalized 200 National Guard troops in Oregon, but so far it does not appear that they have moved into Portland. They have been seen training on the coast in anticipation of a deployment.

___

Associated Press reporter Rebecca Boone contributed.