Portrait of Larry Clinton and Betty George, Copacabana(?), New York, N.Y., ca. Sept. 1947. Photograph by William P. Gottlieb.
In the Muse has regularly featured photographs from the William P. Gottlieb Collection when commemorating the birthdays of jazz greats like Billie Holiday, Django Reinhardt, and Ben Webster. But that’s not all that’s in the collection. Today, the observed birthday of William Shakespeare, enjoy this photograph, which originally appeared in Down Beat magazine in 1947 with the caption, “The balcony scene, as played by Larry Clinton and Betty George. Bandleader Clinton’s Rainbow album of Romeo Loves Juliet was given as the inspiration, though lovely Betty should be enough. The singer’s stay at the Copacabana here has been extended so many times that it looks like she’s found a permanent home.” Peruse the Performing Arts Encyclopedia for more Shakespeare-inspired material, like Samuel Coleridge-Taylor‘s “Othello Suite“, from African-American Band Stocks; and “Shakespeare Gavotte“ and “My Irish Romeo,” from Historic Sheet Music Collection, 1800-1922. And of course, you can always revisit that tragic story of star-crossed lovers from rival families: West Side Story.