Schools

British Rock and Roll Takes Over Paxon Hollow Middle School

A sneak peek of "Mersey: The British Rock Invasion Show," produced by the father of local seventh-grade Paxon Hollow student, was performed on Friday, Jan. 6.

BROOMALL–Luke Traynor, a seventh-grade student at , helped pull together a British rock and roll show for students on Friday, Jan. 6, at a special assembly.

The show, produced by Luke's father Dan Traynor, is a homage to the British rock and roll era that changed the genre forever. According to the school's press release, Traynor, a longtime-area musician, created the show, "Mersey: The British Rock Invasion Show," because of the courage of a dear friend and breast cancer survivor.

"She really had a tough time with this whole thing and because she lives in Florida, there was nothing I could do for her there, so we decided to have a benefit concert at the Hedgerow Theatre last year–that was the second PA Breast Cancer Coalition event," said Traynor.

Find out what's happening in Marple Newtownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The show will run on the big stage at Media Theatre for the public from Jan. 20-21 and a matinee on Jan. 21. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the PA Breast Cancer Coalition. Steve Trevelise of WIP Radio will also be the special MC for the show.

With the collaboration of his son Luke and Paxon Hollow Middle School, Traynor performed with the band–also 14, hand-picked, local Delaware County musicians–for a sneak preview of the upcoming show.

Find out what's happening in Marple Newtownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

stated in the press release that he was "extremely pleased" to have one of his very own students at Paxon Hollow "excelling in the arts and entertainment field."

Traynor credits several people for pulling the show together, including Teresa Werner, one of the school administrators, Lou Durso, a friend of Traynor's who works at Optimist Recording Studios in Newtown Square and helped him find his narrator for the show Bryan Smith, a native of England.

In addition, he credits Cindy Garnick, of Next Level Entertainment, and describes her as the "promotions guru" as well as Bob and Ron's Worldwide Stereo for their sponsorship, the support of WMGK and work of Jerry Shay, their photographer/media contact.

"They all have a story or know someone, or have been toched by breast cancer in some way and it's amazing how all these members in the cast believe in the cause," shared Traynor.

Eventually, Traynor hopes to take the musical on the road and to take it "ultimately home to England one day where it belongs."

"For me, this is just a slice of history when the Beatles came to America and appeared on the Ed Sullivan show. It changed music forever, " said Traynor. "From that point on, music was never the same and that's what we're really keying into."

For more information about the show and how to purchase tickets, visit Media Theatre's website here.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here