←Recommendations of THE LESSER LEYENDECKER, a 100-minute full-length drama, LGBTQ+ themes

There’s something awe inspiring about the meticulous care with which Arianna Rose has constructed The Lesser Leyendecker. A pronged and poignant bio-drama with theatrical flourish, this play demonstrates a visionary talent for taking the facts of historical record and imbuing them with the heart and magic they deserve. An excellent feat of stage craft, I can’t wait to see where this play goes next.

The Lesser Leyendecker is a gripping and vividly theatrical exploration of the tension between sibling love and sibling rivalry and between the commercial and artistic imperatives. A manipulative interloper threatens the Leyendecker's bond with tragic consequences. This is a work of great compassion and insight and a compelling story with well-drawn characters.

A fantastic and theatrical character study of a much more famous family than you might realize. Rose briskly paces this play with beautiful imagery (Livvy and the Arrow Collar Man are a delight to imagine) and thought-provoking commentary on how we pursue both love (familial and non-platonic) and art, and how the choices we make in those can backfire. Not just on ourselves, but on those with whom we share everything. This is some painfully human work, and heart wrenching with the best of them.

Arianna Rose's clear grasp of the theatrical, historical and artistic is on full display in this tightly woven story of the leaders of the commercial art movement of America in the early 20th century. The play flies through time and their collective troubles with amazing fluidity, beautiful imagery and compelling confrontations. Brava.

Arianna Rose writes about historical figures so well and infuses her plays with so much imagination and theatricality. This latest drama about brothers J.C. and Frank Leyendecker, the former the creator of the famous illustrations of the Arrow Collar Man some one hundred years ago, the latter also a famous but tortured illustrator, focuses on their struggles in business and family matters. Frank is basically pushed aside by his family, but mostly by Charles Beach, the model for the Arrow Collar Man, whose brash personality causes friction and more between the brothers. It's a sad, beautifully written story.

Arianna Rose lovingly resurrects the all-but-forgotten story of illustrator Frank Leyendecker and his better-known brother J.C. (creator of the advertising icon the Arrow Collar Man) in this heartbreaking historical play. Like any complicated life, so many themes interlock, including sexual conflict, spiraling substance abuse, sibling love and rivalry, emotional betrayal, and most of all the sanctity of art. This atmospheric play is so visually imaginative on the page, one can clearly envision how it will come alive on stage.

Stunning play! I had the privilege of seeing this play developed in my writers group. It has a lot to say about art and the nature of artists as well as compelling themes of addiction, family and the imagination. Fascinating characters that are neither good nor bad, just strikingly human. Unapologetically theatrical. You can literally see the play as you read it. You definitely should read this play! Highly recommend.