HBO has posted a two minutes clip with new scenes from the upcoming mini-series “John Adams”, including behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with writer David McCullough, producer Tom Hanks and actors Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. Additionally, the website for the film has been updated with cast biographies, new pictures and a full synopsis. Unfortunately, none of that features Mamie, so I guess her role, that of Adams’ niece Sally, will be rather small. “John Adams” taps into the uncertainty and intensity surrounding the birth of the American republic and its first 50 years. With the fervent support of his wife Abigail, and through a lifelong political rivalry and friendship with Thomas Jefferson, Adams rose to be the leader of the American independence movement, the nation’s first ambassador to Holland and England, the first American Vice President, the second American President, and father of the sixth American President.

In a city in which real estate is an obsession, Brooke Berman’s experience is so unique, she felt compelled to turn it into a play. After all, how many New Yorkers can say that they’ve lived in more than 30 apartments around the city? Berman’s new play, Hunting and Gathering, now having its world premiere at Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters with an enviable cast (Mamie Gummer, Keira Naughton, Jeremy Shamos and Michael Chernus) directed by Leigh Silverman, follows four young New Yorkers in search of “their place.” It’s a topic that Berman, a Juilliard graduate who began her career as a solo performer, has obviously thought about a lot- and her lyrical Broadway.com essay gives an intriguing (and personal) preview of how the idea of “coming home” can be presented on an off-Broadway stage. Read the full article here.