FDR's Very Happy Hour

FDR's Very Happy Hour is running at the Studio Loft of the Ellie Caulkins Opera House through Sunday, November 1. It's an immersive show built around Franklin Delano Roosevelt's real-life habit of hosting a cocktail hour at the White House almost every day—a ritual he used to connect and unwind during some of the country's hardest years. The production turns that habit into a live experience that mixes humor and history: cocktails, mocktails, and soft drinks sit alongside game-show-style trivia, conversation starters, and personal reflections from FDR himself, who mingles among the audience at cocktail tables. If you'd rather just watch, riser seating offers a less interactive option.

Each performance also introduces a different local changemaker with a short interview, and the occasional surprise guest. The show was written by Denver native Regan Linton, who also plays Roosevelt. It grew out of a 2015 meeting at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival with M. Graham Smith, who wanted to put a disabled historical figure more prominently on stage. That focus carries through into the production's accessibility: it features open captioning, ASL interpretation, and a wheelchair-accessible layout in honor of Roosevelt, who contracted a paralytic illness in 1921 and used a wheelchair.

Tickets are 'choose your price' up to $40.02, and the show runs through November 1 at the Studio Loft, 1385 Curtis St.