From American Stage’s “Beauty and the Beast” in the Park 2024. Credit: Forbes Visuals / American Stage/Flickr

Demens Landing Park is a waterfront peninsula with scattered palm trees, but at each sundown for the next month, American Stage turns it into a deep, enchanted wood.

The St. Pete company’s long-running, outdoor theatre series returns with a production of “Into the Woods.” And it is already drawing buzz—opening night on March 25 sold out a week early.

Running through April 26, the production brings Stephen Sondheim’s twisted fairy tale mashup to the waterfront, where audiences can watch from blankets or lawn chairs as characters like Cinderella, Jack and Little Red Riding Hood chase their wishes and deal with the fallout.

The show is part of American Stage’s effort to sustain its long-running Theatre in the Park series. The $500,000 “Save the Park” campaign is now nearly complete, an American Stage spokesperson told CL, helping to keep performances under the stars a highlight of Tampa Bay’s spring season.

So far, the initiative has raised $450,000 to help cover rising production costs while keeping ticket prices accessible.

American Stage has also brought plays to unconventional spaces beyond Demmings Landing, from standing in the pit at Jannus Live to hiking the trails at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, for its “Beyond the Stage” series.

Tickets are $43-$63 for “Into the Woods in the Park,” running March 25-April 26 in St. Petersburg.