The Mountaintop Audiobook

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated outside of his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. What happened inside room 306 on the evening of April 3 is the subject of Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop.

Hours after King’s final speech, punctuated by his immortal line, “I’ve been to the mountaintop,” the celebrated Reverend forms an unlikely friendship with a motel maid as they talk into the early hours of what will be his final day.

An L.A. Theatre Works full cast performance featuring Aja Naomi King as Camae and Larry Powell as Dr. Martin Luther King.

Directed by Roger Guenveur Smith

Recorded in Los Angeles before a live audience at The James Bridges Theater, UCLA, in May of 2016.

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“Hall crafts a fascinating look at the final hours of Martin Luther King Jr. in this fictional dramatization of the evening before he was assassinated. King opens up about his inner demons and his legacy as he debates with Camae, a hotel staff member whom he bonds with over the course of the play. Performed in front of a live audience, the production never misses a beat and flows effortlessly for the full emotionally intense hour. Actor Larry Powell captures King’s power, vulnerability, and hubris, while actress Aja Naomi King projects just as much presence and intensity. Integrated throughout the performance, the sound design propels the narrative forward without interrupting it, and the aural montage in the final moments of the production will move listeners to tears with its blending of past and present, dynamic use of call and response, and the ceaseless vocal drive of actress King as Camae.”

— Publishers Weekly (audio review)