Streep -- the next generation

Some of you may have been following the flicks of Mamie Gummer who looks rather like her mother Meryl Streep (particularly in the movie "Evening" where Streep plays Gummer's character as an older woman). Gummer will appear opposite Laura Linney in a revival of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" on Broadway in May, presumably in the Presidente de Tourvel role (Michelle Pfeiffer in the movie).

A bit closer to home, Streep's son Henry Gummer, age 28, turns up in The Production Company's production of "A Good Smoke" by Don Cummings, opening Feb. 22 and running through March 29 at the Chandler Studio Theatre in NoHo.

Here's the play's description:

Mom says she suffers from the effects of an abusive childhood and turns her affections to narcotics and cigarettes. The rest of the family: hard-drinking Dad, sons Dave and Joe, and daughter, Susan; have been trained to obey. But now the balance has been upset. Susan just had a baby and Mom isn’t the center of attention anymore. Will she stop at nothing to regain that position? Please note that there is a very brief moment of smoking in the last few seconds of the play.

(I love that last warning, BTW). www.theprodco.com or 1-800-838-3006 for more info.

Back in the day, I suppose agents would have you change your name to something more glamorous than "Gummer" if you're going to get into show business. (Just ask the descendants of Judy Garland, nee Frances Ethel Gumm) Even so, I suspect before too long, actors with the name Gummer will be asked, "Are you, by chance, related to Meryl Streep?"

For that matter, I wonder how many actors with the last name Streep are kicking around out there.