Minneapolis/St. Paul - "The Enormous Crocodile The Musical"

Regional Reviews: Minneapolis/St. Paul

The Enormous Crocodile The Musical
Children's Theatre Company
Review by Deanne McDonald Haywood | Season Schedule

Also see Arty's review of The Addams Family and Deanne's reviews of A Beautiful Noise and It's Only a Play

Taya Ming and Ryan Crellin-Simpson
Photo by Glen Stubbe Photography

Children's Theatre Company (CTC) is presenting the U.S. premiere of The Roald Dahl Story Company's U.K. production, The Enormous Crocodile The Musical, on their Cargill Stage, an impressive and engaging spectacle of puppetry and theatrical design with loads of humor and heart. Based on the book by Roald Dahl, the musical features music by Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab, book and lyrics by Suhayla El-Bushra, and additional music and lyrics by Tom Brady. Directed and developed by Emily Lim, with puppets by co-director and puppetry designer Toby Olié, set and costume design by Fly Davis, and puppetry co-designed and supervised by Daisy Beattie, this high-energy production is recommended for all ages. Younger children may be overwhelmed by the fast moving scenes and loud music; at the performance I attended, some 2-3 year olds were carried out by their grownups.

The cast of The Enormous Crocodile The Musical includes Taya Ming as The Enormous Crocodile, Ryan Crellin-Simpson as Humpy Rumpy the Hippopotamus, Nia Stephen as Trunky the Elephant, Siobhan Athwal as Muggle-Wump the Monkey and Movement Captain, and Alison Arnopp as Roly Poly Bird. As The Enormous Crocodile, Ming has expansive vocal power and takes gleeful delight in her "secret plans and clever tricks" in her quest to eat a human child. In addition to their credited characters, Crellin-Simpson, Stephan, Athwal, and Arnopp puppeteer various jungle animals and, to my 6-year-old's delight, hilarious human children junior jungle explorers that use the puppeteer's heads as the children's heads. Athwal has a ball as their enthusiastic but incompetent Scottish troop leader.

The design of The Enormous Crocodile The Musical is vibrant and fascinating, and the seamless, fast-moving puppet, costume, and scenery changes make you wonder what the show looks like from backstage, where performers and backstage crew are performing a complicated dance. Nearly every short scene features a fast-moving, tow-tapping song, with one brief respite ballad about being brave sung by the hippo, elephant, monkey, and bird quartet. If anything, The Enormous Crocodile The Musical is a little too fast at times, as it can be hard for younger children to follow and is sometimes difficult to understand lyrics in the louder songs. Performers would benefit from addressing the entire crowd during their crowd-interaction, some of them seemed to hide behind their puppets and none of them seemed to address any children beyond the first couple of rows.

The Enormous Crocodile The Musical will be presented to all second-grade students in Minneapolis Public Schools as part of CTC's Opening ACT, a program which provides free access to, and enrichment surrounding, a live CTC theatre experience. The Enormous Crocodile The Musical is sure to provide those students with an imaginative and inspiring introduction to the magic of the theatre in a brisk 60-minutes.

The Roald Dahl Story Company's production of The Enormous Crocodile The Musical runs through November 23, 2025, at Children's Theatre Company, Cargill Stage, 2400 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis MN. For tickets and information, please call 612-874-0400 or visit childrenstheatre.org.