On the evening of Friday, October 2, the courtyard at Westport Plaza in Maryland Heights turns into an open-air theater. The feature is "The Devil Wears Prada," the 2006 fashion-world comedy, projected onto a big screen for anyone who shows up with a lawn chair and a blanket. There is no reserved seating, no ticket window, and no cover charge. The screening is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
It is a deliberately low-key proposition: bring snacks, settle in, and let the movie run. But the event sits at the end of a longer story about a St. Louis County landmark that has spent the last several years trying to change what kind of place it is.
Westport Plaza took shape in the 1970s as a planned mixed-use development, planted just off Interstate 270 near Page Avenue and a short drive from Lambert International Airport. The location was the point. It put offices, hotels, restaurants, and nightlife within a walkable footprint at one of the most connected intersections in the county, and over the decades the 42-acre district built a reputation as much for its evening scene as for its business tenants. The plaza's own history page notes that it has entertained St. Louisans for more than 35 years with annual festivals, lunchtime concerts, and its long-running Parties on the Plaza series.
That nightlife identity is exactly what the venue has been working to broaden. Westport Plaza launched Movie Nights at the Plaza, a new family-oriented series staged in a green space that itself is new to the property. The first installment came in May, and by summer the series was running monthly through October, pairing marquee titles with activities that spill off the screen and into the plaza: face painting, caricature artists, oversized yard games like Jenga and Connect 4, and appearances by costumed characters.
"The green space as a whole is new, and we went into this year with the intention of providing these types of family events," Cameron Schoeffel, Westport Plaza's director of sales and entertainment, said in a St. Louis Magazine feature on the series. "We have one Movie Night under our belt thus far, and it was a wonderful success. We're not only excited to expound upon that throughout the series, but we're also working to expand our offerings throughout the year." Schoeffel added a detail that captures the tone of the thing: at the first event, he and his 4-year-old both got their faces painted, twice.
The push is part of a broader repositioning. Lodging Hospitality Management acquired the complex roughly a decade ago, and the property has continued to evolve since, adding restaurants and reworking its public spaces. Schoeffel framed the goal plainly in the same interview: "We're trying to recreate or reimagine Westport Plaza as a destination plaza that everyone can enjoy." Movie nights, holiday events, Oktoberfest, and Fourth of July programming in the green space are all pieces of that effort.
Concessions fit the same family-night logic. Soda Fountain Express, one of the plaza's dining tenants, serves to-go meals from its regular menu along with Movie Night specials, candy, and ice cream, so a family can eat dinner and dessert without leaving the courtyard.
For the October 2 screening, the practical details are simple. Admission is free. Guests bring their own lawn chairs or blankets, and seating is first-come, first-served on the plaza. The film starts at 7 p.m. The venue lists the address as 111 West Port Plaza, Maryland Heights, Missouri, 63043.
One note for anyone planning around the listing: the venue's own event page describes October 2, 2026 as a Thursday, but the calendar puts that date on a Friday. The date itself, October 2, is consistent across the venue's page and the Explore St. Louis listing; only the day-of-week label differs. The start time of 7 p.m. comes from the venue.
There is also a certain symmetry in the choice of film. Westport Plaza spent decades known for its nightlife and its dressed-up evenings out, and "The Devil Wears Prada" is a movie about ambition, image, and the cost of both, played for laughs. Screening it outdoors, free, on a lawn where kids are welcome and the dress code is whatever you wore to the plaza, is a small statement about which direction the place is headed.
And the series does not stop with October 2. The plaza has more movie programming on the calendar that fall, including a Halloween parade on October 29 followed by a free outdoor double feature of "Hotel Transylvania" and "Hotel Transylvania 2," with the parade stepping off at 6 p.m. and the films beginning at 6:30 p.m. Later dates listed by the venue include "Coco" on October 30 and "The Polar Express" on November 6, with most screenings starting around sunset.
For the October 2 event, though, the formula is the one the series was built on: a screen, a lawn, a classic, and no ticket required.