Amanda Warren's Life on Top

For Amanda Warren, playing the lead role of Camae in Katori Hall's play The Mountaintop marks a full-circle moment on a few levels.

She auditioned to be an understudy when the Olivier Award-winning production from P-Valley creator Hall had its Broadway run a decade ago. Fate, of course, had other plans, but when Warren takes the stage at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, she'll perform under the direction of Patricia McGregor — a friend from the Yale School of Drama.

"I never got to see it [on Broadway], but I got to read it, and it's incredible," Warren says. "Years went by, and here it is again. Though Katori Hall is not in the room with us, her words are — it's like a spell book. I find [the opportunity] to be a true blessing, particularly during this stressful time in our industry."

The Mountaintop takes place in the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 3, 1968 — the day before Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated. Having just delivered his "I've Been to the Mountaintop," speech, King (Jon Michael Hill) orders room service, whereupon he meets Camae, a mysterious maid with surprising news. "It becomes a night of intrigue and thrilling revelation," Warren teases.

Warren's turn in The Mountaintop marks her first time on stage in twelve years, a period that saw her thrive on television, with roles including the mean Manhattan mom Camille de Haan on HBO's Gossip Girl revival and commanding officer Regina Haywood on CBS's East New York. Critics and fans alike praised Warren for her turn as the tough but caring leader of a precinct in a Brooklyn neighborhood juggling social upheaval and gentrification.

Though the series wasn't renewed, Warren remains proud of the story. "We gave it our all," she says. "We knew that speaking about police relations and community is a delicate subject. Stories like this can inspire productive dialogue."

She hopes The Mountaintop, which runs at the Geffen from June 15 to July 9, encourages conversation and reflection, too. Depicting King doing very human things — ordering food, smoking and fearing for his life — it reminds us that the civil-rights icon was mortal like everyone else, and that, as his speech declares, a better day is on the horizon. "What I hope people gain from The Mountaintop is perspective," she says. "We may be in tumultuous times, but we have to have faith that there is something on the other side; [we need to] lead with integrity and do the things that will make society better."