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At that time, a newly popular British group
called The Beatles were in the middle
of their fourth European tour.
The November 22, 1963 concert by
the soon-to-be-dubbed "Fab Four"
had been anticipated with great
excitement by Beatles fans.
Also featured on the bill that night
were the Kestrels, The Vernon Girls,
Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers, and
the Rhythm & Blues Quartet.
The Beatles’ performance was abruptly halted that night...when a girl
three rows from the front somehow burst through the security guards
and made a mad dash of rate stage.
She flung herself across the ten-foot wide orchestra pit, scrambled onstage,
and made a beeline for George Harrison. She held him in a tight embrace
for a few moments before turning her attention to John Lennon,
who was belting out "Twist & Shout."
She grinned up at him and was about to pounce when the guards
caught up with her and bundled her off stage. As they did,
the curtains unexpectedly dropped,
with John still in mid-song.
The Beatles escaped the frenzied crowd
and were whisked off in a police car.
The haunting irony of the long-ago concert was not lost on those who were there.
After the concert, Geoff Williams (of the KESTRELS) remembered,
"We were all staying in the same hotel that night, the Beatles included,
and that was very unusual. We all gathered around the television
and watched it together and we were all stunned into silence.
It was so poignant when John Lennon got shot,
because of course, we were with them
when it happened to JFK."
(Audience member) Melody Bahou said,
"It was past eleven when I got home. I had been screaming and crying tears
[over the Beatles] while Jackie Kennedy had been doing the same,
only in bitter anguish. And my lovely John,
murdered in America 17 years later."
The newspapers the next day were, of course, filled with stories
of JFK's tragic assassination. But the story of the girl
who jumped the orchestra pit and hugged George
was carried on page seven of Saturday's ____,
complete with a picture of her about to make
a lunge at George. Her friend, quizzed later
by journalists, piped up innocently
that she had told her she was
determined to kiss a Beatle.
The theater staff were embarrassed by the girl who beat their tight security.
The next Beatles' page is here.
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