On September 20, 1964, The Beatles performed at a charity event at New York's Paramont Theater. The event was to raise money for United Cerebral Palsy and Retarded Infants Services (a name that no organization would use today!!). This concert was not part of the offical 1964 tour and it did not have the same opening acts as the other stops in the United States. However, this concert is considered part of the tour as it was the very last performance the Beatles gave in the United States in 1964.
It was a small venue that only had room for about 3,500 or so people. It was much closer in comparison to the size that the Beatles were used to performing to in the UK. Being a charity event, the tickets were expensive. While the ticket itself might have been listed as $1.50, you were to give a donation upwards to $100. In 1964 that was an extremely large amount of money to spend for a concert. Many fans were not able to attend this show because of the price mixed with the fact that the show was on a school night and they had JUST seen the Beatles in concert less than a month before at Forest Hills.
While some fans did get in to see the show, those that were not able to secure a ticket did the the next best thing: they stood outside of the theater and screamed. What else was there to do? 4,000 fans stood out and screamed for their favorite 4 boys.
The young girl in the middle of the sign that says "Beatles please stay here 4-ever" was in love with George Harrison. That girl is Penelope Rowlands who had written a book called The Beatles are Here! She was 13 years old at the time At the time her mother was off on a Honeymoon with her new husband and told her young Beatlemaniac daughter not to go down to see the Beatles while she was gone. Penelope's love for George was so strong that she just HAD to disobey and go into New York City alone to see her man. Her passion was deep, as was her dislike of her new step-father and the Beatles and all that came with them that summer was a release and an escape from the changes in her life. Of course when this photograph was printed in the paper, Penelope was busted----but the photo is a classic!
Another fan named Thom said this in the youtube comments fora short news clip about the show:
"I was there outside the theater with hundreds of other kids waiting for them to arrive. I watched John and Paul get out of a big black car from just a few yards away. It was very scary because a squad of police on horseback tried to hold us back without much success. "