So much so that she drives 10 hours a week -- five hours there and back -- to the Outer Banks to perform the role of Mary Tudor in "Bloody Mary and the Virgin Queen" in an Elizabeth R and Company production at The Film Theatre at Roanoke Island Festival Park.
Warren, who moved to Southern Pines from the Outer Banks five years ago, says her love for the show makes the commute worth it.
"I love every, every mile of it," she says.
Warren drives to the Outer Banks on Tuesday for rehearsal before the Wednesday afternoon performance, then drives back to Southern Pines, where she and her husband, C. P. Warren, work together in his insurance adjusting firm. While the job takes them around the country, Warren is committed to her role.
"I make sure I'm here when ‘Bloody Mary' runs," she says. This year is her seventh in the role of Mary.
The premise of the show is that the two sisters, Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I, who are buried together in Westminster Abbey, continue to battle even after their deaths, rising from their tombs after the tourists have left.
"They arise every night and fight out the differences they had in their lives," Warren says. "They have a love-hate relationship."
Warren says that she enjoys her character's flaws.
"She's a pitiful character, but she's a lovable character," Warren says. "Everybody feels sorry for her and sympathizes with her."
Warren calls the play a "musical farce" and an "outrageous musical comedy."
"It has been described as a cross between ‘Saturday Night Live' and ‘Masterpiece Theater,'" she says.
Originally from Charlotte, Warren made her stage debut at the age of 5 in the opera "La Boheme" for the Charlotte Opera, now known as the Opera Carolina. She fell in love with performing.
"I was bitten by the bug," Warren says.
She went on to study voice and acting at Queens College in Charlotte. She worked with theater groups locally, like the Charlottetowne Players; performed with Opera Carolina; and sang with the Charlotte Oratorio, an official chorus of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra.
More recently, she and Judith Devine, a friend who performed off-Broadway in New York and moved to the Outer Banks, formed a musical group called the Soundsations. The group performs Broadway show tunes and has been popular in the Outer Banks.
In spite of her passion for performing, Warren says that when she first started, acting was something she loved to do, but it was not a part of her everyday personality.
"Actually I was very shy, until I hit the stage, and my mother went ‘Oh my God, we're in trouble now,'" Warren says. "You can become something you're not. And you can kind of stretch your wings and feel like you're in a different world. It changes you when you're onstage."
Warren came by her talent naturally. Miriam Booth, Warren's mother, who also lives in Southern Pines, says she performed with the Charlotte Opera for about 10 years and Oratorio Singers for 18 or 19 years. Her profession was singing as a soloist for her church. Booth is happy that her daughter has found a career that she enjoys.
"I love it," Booth says. "I love it. I think it gives her an outlet which my music always gave me."
While Warren's busy schedule has not yet allowed her to participate in theater productions in the Sandhills, local residents will possibly have a chance to see her perform this fall at Weymouth Center.
"It's a great show," Warren says of "Bloody Mary." "And if we could ever bring it to Southern Pines, we would love it."
"Bloody Mary and the Virgin Queen" runs at 3 p.m., and the remaining performance dates are June 7, 14 and 21.
Admission is ticketed but free. Tickets can be ordered in advance by calling 252-473-1061, or they are available at the theater one hour before each performance.
For more information about the show, call 252-475-1500 or visit www.roanokeisland.com.
Kirsten Beattie is an intern from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
