BWW Q&A: Susan Dormady Eisenberg On Her Book ONE MORE SEAT AT THE ROUND TABLE

Set backstage during the out-of-town chaos of Lerner and Loewe’s now-classic 1960 musical, One More Seat at the Round Table portrays the struggles of feisty drama school grad Jane Conroy, who lands a plum Gal Friday job, and Bryce Christmas, a gifted, if insecure, actor on the verge of his big break. When Jane and Bryce fall helplessly in love during Toronto tryouts, their relationship is tested by mistakes they make and endless work woes: Camelot’s four-hour length, poor reviews, the illness of librettist Alan Jay Lerner, and the near-fatal coronary of director Moss Hart who quits.

As Lerner, composer Loewe, and their stars, Richard Burton and Julie Andrews, trudge on to Boston, doubts besiege Jane who hopes to buck convention and skip marriage and Bryce who wants a wife. They also discover hidden strengths as Jane gains agency backstage and Bryce takes charge of his talent. But will Jane’s commitment phobia derail their future? Will Camelot become a glittering hit? These questions create a tense roller-coaster ride to the end of Susan Dormady Eisenberg’s wise and witty novel, a story about the transformative power of love and the luminous pull of Broadway as it casts its spell on performers and fans alike.

Why did you choose to write a novel about original production of Camelot?

A- I fell in love with CAMELOT the first time I heard the original cast recording, and throughout my life I met and/or interviewed people who'd been involved with the original production. As I researched the show, I realized its many travails offered a perfect narrative arc for a novel--conflict, reversals, romance, and triumph. My challenge was to introduce compelling fictional characters and have them interact with the very-famous principals who created and starred in the show. I also needed to fictionalize some real people to give myself more leeway with my plot. But I can honestly say that 90 percent of what I wrote about this show is accurate. Kirkus Reviews called my reseach "meticulous."

What kind of troubles did CAMELOT face?

If anything could go wrong, it did go wrong, starting when its costume designer dropped dead one year before rehearsals began. When the show left for Toronto in September 1960, it ran four hours, and some wag called it "Gotterdammerung without laughs." Reviews were lackluster. Librettist Alan Jay Lerner suddenly went to the hospital with bleeding ulcers, and as he left ten days later, director Moss Hart was being wheeled in, the victim of a near-fatal coronary. Hart left a sinking ship without a captain, and it was all downhill from there. Camelot almost closed at its next tryout city: Boston. By the time it reached New York, it had been dubbed "Costalot."

But CAMELOT prevailed?

Yes, to paraphrase Lerner, "with a little bit of luck." Moss Hart recovered and returned in winter of 1961 to shape the show, then Ed Sullivan featured Camelot on his Sunday night variety show (March 19, 1961). There were lines around the Majestic Theater the next morning and Camelot became a belated hit. Sadly, the stress took its toll on Lerner and Loewe who never created another original musical. Poor Moss Hart died in December of 1961. 

Were there any major obstacles for you as an author?

I couldn't use any lyrics or text from the show's book so I had to make the musical come alive through vivid descriptions of what was happening on stage. And I had to piece together what the original book was like since Alan Jay Lerner did not leave copies of early drafts in his papers at the Library of Congress. The critics in Toronto and Boston and even some in New York complained that they didn't know what was happening between Guenevere and Lancelot. The truth was, Lerner mainly cared about King Arthur's storyline and he was reluctant to show the fabled affair that ended the Round Table. 

Why didn't you write a straight history of Camelot?

My heart lies in fiction, and the story of Camelot is among the most romantic tales in literature. I wanted to introduce Jane, a young production assistant, and Bryce, a knight in the chorus, who were more conflicted than Guenevere and Lancelot. I liked the idea of parallel on-stage and off-stage romances, one tragic, one eventually happy,  

Were there any surprises in your research phase?

It has long been thought that Alan Jay Lerner took over direction of Camelot when the show moved to Boston in October of 1960. In fact, Richard Burton's foster father, Philip Burton, came to the rescue and replaced Moss Hart. For this heroic act, he got a one-line mention in the production credits for the first month of the show's run, and then his name disappeared from Playbill. Richard Burton was allegedly furious that Lerner left out Philip's contribution when he penned his 1978 memoir, The Street Where I Live.  

You did publicity at Goodspeed Opera House which often produces original shows. Did you witness the creation of a new musical?

Yes, I worked on the 1974 out-of-town production of Shenandoah starring the great John Cullum. Seeing a show come together from day one was an amazingly inspiring experience. Mr. Cullum had originated the role of Sir Dinadan in Camelot and was a wonderful raconteur. Looking back, I think that hearing his stories helped plant the seeds for my future novel. But I was young then and not yet planning to write fiction so it was lucky that Mr. Cullum later recorded some Camelot anecdotes for Columbia Masterworks and they're still on Youtube. By the way, because I'd met Mr. Cullum, I fictionalized my character who plays Dinadan.

What are you working on now?

I'm writing a romcom about an author and an actor who meet while working on the author's audio book, a slow-burn romance with plenty of backstage dish. I'm also writing about Annie Oakley's early years in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, a period dramatized in The Irving Berlin musical Anne Get Your Gun. The real story is quite different from the book created by Dorothy Fields and Herbert Fields. 

Do you have advice for other novelists who want to write about theater?

A - Go for it! Besides my book, there are several recent novels that tell fun backstage stories including BROADWAY REVIVAL by Laura Frankos, MARY & ETHEL and MIKEY WHO? by Stephen Cole, and BROADWAY MELODY by Jack Viertel, all at Amazon. It's a fiction subgenre unto itself.

ONE MORE SEAT AT THE ROUND TABLE, a comic historical novel, was published by Atmosphere Press in 2023 and is available at Amazon in paperback and ebook, and at all audio book vendors. (The audio book is narrated by Monica M. Wemitt and Maxx Pinkins.) Kirkus Reviews called the novel, "An engaging and entertaining romp through the tribulations of putting on a new show."

 

Susan Dormady Eisenberg is the author of two backstage novels: ONE MORE SEAT AT THE ROUND TABLE: A Novel of Broadway's Camelot (2023) and THE VOICE I JUST HEARD (2012). She worked as a publicist/marketer at Goodspeed Opera House, Syracuse Stage, and The Joffrey Ballet/NY where she gained valuable insights into all aspects of theater. She also ran her own freelance writing business in Washington, D.C. for ten years, and later published articles in Opera News, Classical Singer, and Huff Post. A proud member of the Authors Guild, she is working on a contemporary romcom as well as a historical novel about the life and times of American icon Annie Oakley. Susan lives in Baltimore with her husband, a senior services executive. 

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