JEREMY AND Opens this Week as Part of 2014 Fresh Fruit Festival

The world premiere of Andy Ottoson's JEREMY AND starts this week as part of the 2014 Fresh Fruit Festival, presenting 40 exceptional LGBTQ plays, one-acts, cabarets, operas, film and dance works over the course of two weeks.

The ensemble cast features Erik Kochenberger (Eat the Chicken) as Jeremy and Billy Hutto (Good Breeding) as Trevor, both recent graduates of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, as well as Leslie Erin Roth (I Don't and then I Do) as Jenny. Leslie has worked around the city and region at The Flea, La MaMa, the O'Neill and many others. All three bring their vigor and passion to this challenging new play.

Director Lana Russell (The Coming World) is Artistic Director of Story People Theater Group, and has directed the New York premier of Christopher Shinn's The Coming World at Under St. Mark's. She has also directed at the Red Room and many others around the city, in addition to producing the Readings on the Roof outdoor reading series in Brooklyn.

This world-premiere new work by Andy Ottoson follows the downward spiral of Jeremy, whose perfect future abruptly falls apart when he learns his perfect girlfriend Jenny is transitioning to male. As Jeremy tries to grasp his new reality, he finds his life slipping away in the blurred lines of gender, identity, sex, love, friendship and football. With the conditional support of his best friend Trevor, Jeremy tries to rise up and become a better man in this bittersweet comedy.

Stage Manager for the production is Anna Katherine Moore, Costumer Designer is Jennifer Fisher, Sound Designer is Mike Brady, Assistant Director is Charles Quittner, and is line produced by Branden Huldeen.

Mr. Ottoson is a New York-based writer and director, whose previous works have included a modern-day retelling of the video game classic The Oregon Trail, a film/theater hybrid of the Island of Misfit Toys, a new adaptation of Strindberg's A Dream Play, and he once lit Helen Keller on fire in a bar! He has also worked with The Guthrie Theater, Dallas Opera, SPF at the Public Theater, Primary Stages, Tulsa Opera, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Connecticut Lyric Opera and many others across the country.

Performances are on Friday July 18th at 7:00 PM and Sunday July 20th at 4:00 PM at the Wild Project (195 E. 3rd Street at Avenue B; Subway lines F to Second Avenue or J, M to Essex Street). Tickets are $18 and are now on sale at OvationTix in "All Out Shorts II: What Are Friends For?"