John Battles (August 10, 1921 – September 22, 2009) was a musical and dramatic theater actor and a native of New York City. Battles's breakout role and career highlight came in 1944 as Gabey in the original Broadway production of the hit musical comedy On the Town. In 1947, he debuted as the lead (Joseph Taylor, Jr.) in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Allegro. He last starred in 13 Daughters in 1961.
Early theater experience
Battles, born Francis TuohyTuohy Family Sources in Manhattan and raised in Rutland, Vermont,Playbill, Allegro, October 10, 1947 had his early experience in theater with the Woodstock Players in Woodstock, Vermont, the Germantown Theatre Guild in Philadelphia,Playbill, On the Town, December 28, 1944 and the Irvine Studio for the Theatre in New York, before making his professional debut.
His first role on Broadway was as a chorus member in Cole Porter's Something for the Boys, starring Ethel Merman.Playbill, On the Town, December 28, 1944. Playbill, Allegro, October 10, 1947. Battles converted his place in the chorus into a small featured part, the M.P., before moving on to Follow the Girls starring Jackie Gleason and featuring a young Danny Aiello as the Dancing Boy. Battles played the Yokel Sailor and understudied one of the male leads before resigning from the production when he was offered the role of Gabey in On the Town.
Broadway stardom
On the Town On the Town opened on Broadway at the Adelphi Theater on Dec. 28th, 1944. It moved briefly to the 44th Street Theater on June 4, 1945, and finally to the Martin Beck Theater on July 30, 1945, before closing on Feb. 2nd, 1946 after a run of 462 performances.Internet Broadway Database entry for On the Town Battles stayed with the production for the entirety of the run,The New York Times, January 11, 1946. missing two periods due to illness and vacation break when understudy Marten Sameth stepped into his role.The New York Times, February 2, 1945. The New York Times, September 25, 1945
After closing on Broadway, On the Town opened (without Mr. Battles) as a touring production two days later in Baltimore on February 4 The New York Times, January 11, 1946 and in 1949 a film version of On the Town was produced by MGM with Gene Kelly starring in the role originated by Battles. MGM was a financial backer of On the Town and before its stage debut paid a $100,000 deposit towards securing the screen rights.The New York Times, December 28, 1944
In addition to giving Battles his career making role, On the Town was the first Broadway success for a quartet of American theater legends: composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, choreographer Jerome Robbins, and actors and book and lyric writers Adolph Green and Betty Comden.
New York reviews for the show were mixed, but mostly favorable. Lewis Nichols in The New York Times said it was "the freshest and most engaging musical to come this way since the golden day of Oklahoma!".The New York Times, December 29, 1944 Louis Kronenberger of the New York newspaper PM concurred by calling it "much the best musical of the year".New York newspaper PM, December 29, 1944 The show's detractors included John Chapman of the New York Daily News, who dismissed it as "a dullish musical comedy".New York Daily News, December 29, 1944 Occupying the middle ground between the extremes was Burton Rascoe of the New York World Telegram who offered merely that "if you are not too exacting it is pretty good fun".New York World-Telegram, December 29, 1944
Battles's role as Gabey put him at the heart of the matter in On the Town as one of the trio of sailors the show follows over a 24-hour period of leave in New York City. As Gabey, Battles featured in the singing of six of the show's songs: "New York, New York", "Lonely Town", "Lucky to be Me", "Subway Ride", "Imaginary Coney Island", and the show ending reprise of "New York, New York".
Mentions of Battles in the reviews, as for cast members generally, were brief but approving. From Howard Barnes of the New York Herald Tribune: "Battles comes through with 'Lonely Town' and 'Lucky To Be Me'."New York Herald Tribune, December 29, 1944. From Wilella Waldorf of the New York Post: "John Battles as the lovelorn gob is an engaging youth".New York Post, December 29, 1944 Robert Garland of the New York Journal American, while ruefully less than enthused about the show, echoed Barnes of the Herald Tribune and included Battles's singing on "Lonely Town" and "Lucky To Be Me" among features to recommend the show.New York Journal American, December 29, 1944
Allegro If On the Town heralded the arrival of new legends on Broadway, Battles' next role, the male lead in the new musical Allegro from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, was an engagement with legends already well established.
Rodgers and Hammerstein had already between them nearly six glory-filled decades of Broadway triumph and in their first collaboration, Oklahoma!, created an enormous hit (even at that moment in the midst of a stunning performance run of 2,212 shows)Internet Broadway Database entry for Oklahoma! that was to become a staple of the American musical theater stage.
Rodgers and Hammerstein's producing partners for Allegro, Lawrence Langer and Theresa Helburn of the Theatre Guild, were equally distinguished. The Guild's producing credits stretched back to 1919 and included original Broadway productions of works by Eugene O'Neill, Ferenc Molnár, George Bernard Shaw, and George Gershwin. Langer and Helburn's previous collaborations with Rodgers and Hammerstein were several and included Oklahoma! and the now revered Carousel.Internet Broadway Database entry for The Theatre Guild
The debut of Allegro was avidly awaited. Richard Watts, Jr. of the New York Post called it "the most strenuously anticipated musical show of the post-war era"New York Post, October 11, 1947 and advance ticket sales for Allegro were reported as unprecedented by longtime New York Times theater reporter Sam Zolotow.The New York Times, October 10, 1947
Battles's role as Allegro's protagonist Joseph Taylor, Jr. was apparently among the first to be cast. On July 4, 1947, Zolotow reported in the Times that as of that date "only John Battles and John Conte are definite for the cast".The New York Times, July 4, 1947
As such, Battles joined yet another American theater luminary already attached to the project. Agnes de Mille, niece of Hollywood film producing and directing titan Cecil B. DeMille, was on board as director in addition to her accustomed role as choreographer. Agnes de Mille had previously choreographed the original Broadway productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! and Carousel and was fresh off her Tony winning success with Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's Brigadoon.Internet Broadway Database entry for Agnes de Mille
Allegro opened on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre on October 10, 1947. It ran until July 10, 1948, for a total of 315 performances. Battles performed in his role for the entirety of the run.Internet Broadway Database entry for Allegro
Allegro centers on the first 35 years of the unremarkable life and times of Joseph Taylor, Jr., the character played by Battles. Several critics likened the unpretentious tale of this musical play to Thornton Wilder's iconic drama of everyday small-town American life Our Town.
New York reviews for Allegro were largely favorable and those nearly reverent. Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times called it "a work of great beauty and purity" and stated that Rodgers and Hammerstein had only "just missed the final splendor of a perfect work of art".The New York Times, October 11, 1947 Ward Morehouse, writing in The Sun, called it a "musical play of beauty and dignity" and ranked it alongside Rodgers and Hammerstein's masterworks Oklahoma! and Carousel as "a theatrical piece of taste, imagination, and showmanship".The Sun, October 11, 1947 Not to be outdone, Robert Coleman in the Daily Mirror called it perfection.Daily Mirror, October 11, 1947
The few negative reviews for Allegro expressed a profoundly different view. Louis Kronenberger, in the New York newspaper PM, called it a grave disappointment that could be called an out-and-out failure and stated that the strange thing about Allegro was "not that it's bad but that it's boring".New York newspaper PM, October 13, 1947 William Hawkins in the New York World Telegram echoed such sentiments, calling Allegro a vast disappointment.New York World-Telegram, October 11, 1947
The New York critics' reaction to Battles's performance in Allegro was generally positive. Howard Barnes in the New York Herald Tribune opined that "John Battles is perfect as the hero".New York Herald Tribune, October 11, 1947 Ward Morehouse in The Sun called Battles "an affecting Joe Taylor - forthright, bewildered, and believable". Even the New York newspaper PM's severely disappointed Louis Kronenberger allowed that Battles was a likable Joe Taylor. It was only William Hawkins in the New York World Telegram who sounded a sour note in calling the cast (with two noted exceptions, not including Battles) simply colorless.
Engagements abroad The end of the nine-month run of Allegro marked a five-year-long period of heavy activity on Broadway for Battles and at this point he took a break from performing on its stages to pursue acting opportunities abroad. Battles turned down several Broadway offers in 1948 and accepted instead a contract for the 1948 season from the Gate Theatre of Dublin, Ireland.The New York Times, August 24, 1948
The Gate Theatre was formed in Dublin in 1928 by the Irish actors and theatrical producing team of Hilton Edwards and Michael MacLiammoir, also a playwright. The Gate gave Orson Welles and James Mason their professional acting debuts in 1931 and 1935, respectively.The Gate Theatre web site, August 2009
Before his departure for Ireland, Battles spoke with Louis Calta of The New York Times. Battles called the Gate one of the finest repertory companies in the world and expressed his regard for Edwards and MacLiammoir as great teachers.
Abdication Battles' first performance with the Gate came in H.T. Lowe-Porter's Abdication, which opened at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin on September 27, 1948.irishplayography.com entry for Abdication His role as the Second Duke was minor and he is little mentioned in reviews. Gate founders Edwards and MacLiammoir both took parts, the latter the lead role of the Prince, with Edwards wearing also the hat of director.
Abdication debuted to much anticipation. It was a world premiere by a non-Irish playwright, at the time something of a novelty in Ireland, and the play was perceived to portray the unprecedented abdication in 1936 of England's King Edward VIII, this still quite fresh in people's minds.
Lowe-Porter, known widely then as the authorized English translator for famed German writer Thomas Mann, was quoted at the time saying that "the parallel between this chronicle play and the facts of Edward VIII's abdication are incidental".Irish Times, September 28, 1948 Others saw it quite differently. A reporter for the Manchester Daily Mail said "only the flimsiest of veils separates the stage show from the historic events in England in 1936".Manchester Daily Mail, September 28, 1948 The Cork Examiner called the play's Elizabethan-era setting a slight disguise which at times wears off altogether.The Cork Examiner, September 28, 1948 It is worth noting that Porter-Lowe was reported at the time as being a close friend of the Duchess of Windsor - the former Wallis Simpson and the very woman at the center of King Edward's abdication.Dublin Evening Herald, September 25, 1948