DPAO bets on niche approach to boost events and shows

Yahoo

15-05-2025

May 15—WATERTOWN — The Disabled Persons Action Organization, seeking more of a sure bet to fund its mission, had to face the music and decide about its entertainment series.
Big name, nationally touring music acts are out. Finding a new entertainment niche is in.
On Saturday, the DPAO's annual series begins with "Play for a Cause," a Las Vegas-style casino charity night at the Caprara-Faichney Drive Business Center's banquet room, 1291 Faichney Drive, Watertown. Tickets are $50. The evening will include classic casino games including blackjack, double roulette, Texas hold 'em, craps, three-card poker and a casino money wheel — all played with DPAO "Casino Fun Money."
"This way, no one goes home broken hearted," DPAO Foundation executive director Michael W. Campbell explained. "It's all about the fun of gambling."
The gaming floor will be open from 6 to 9 p.m. At 9, the Rochester-based band Music of the Stars will perform. Tickets are available at Kinney Drug Stores, the DPAO Foundation Office at 1291 Faichney Drive and at dpaoconcerts.com/events.
In past years, DPAO has made some bets with musical acts that turned out to be duds as fundraisers. In the past couple of years, finding the right profit formula has been especially elusive.
"It's become very challenging," Campbell said on Tuesday over coffee at Tim Horton's on Coffeen Street. "The only way artists today make money is through touring. There are also the expectations for production. Everything has gotten to be higher costs that you can't touch. You have to be sensitive to ticket prices. You need X amount to break even. If that doesn't happen, you are not serving the purposes of our intent, which is to help those with disabilities. That is what we're about."
The DPAO series has also been bitten by bad timing and the fast pace of today's music. It can be a world of difference between when an artist is booked and when they perform. "Country and rock artists today come up and they are gone. They come up fast, and all of a sudden, they're not hot anymore. If it's hot right now, by the time we book and do the show six months later, it's old hat."
As an example of expenses, Campbell said any national touring act now requests a hydraulic stage for safety reasons. "That's 17 grand just to get, not set up, just delivered. Then they look at you and say, 'Where's your crew?' We have to hire people who know what they're doing so nobody gets hurt."
Competing concert venues within a few hours' drive of Watertown also created challenges for DPAO's "Concerts for a Cause" series.
"When you start looking at what's around us and all the shows being offered, it's insane," Campbell said. "The huge benefit of living here is that we're not too far from Saratoga, Darien Lake, Syracuse and Ottawa. The flip side is that all of them have larger shows and better populations to work with. I love Watertown and I love why we do the shows. But the environment is tough. It wasn't like that in all those years of the past. In the last probably five to 10 years, it's been creeping up, and now it's to the point where, 'Let them do the big shows and we'll find our niche — something different to keep people here and make it financially worth it.'"
'micro' wrestling and rock That "something different" element will be evident Aug. 16 at Watertown Fairgrounds Arena when "Rock & Wrestling — MicroMania with Mini Kiss" hits the stage. MicroMania involves short-statured wrestlers. MiniKiss is a group of talented little people known for their electrifying Kiss-inspired performances that have rocked audiences at some of the biggest events and venues worldwide. They have shared the stage with artists such as Snoop Dogg, Jackyl, Blue Öyster Cult, Perfect Circle, Air Supply and Peter Frampton
"That's way out there for us," Campbell said of the show. "We talked about that and concluded, 'We are here to support disabilities. If that's the way they make a career, we'll support them.' It's a cool show. The band is very talented."
Electronic dance music concerts, featuring disc jockeys who create transitions between tracks and manipulate sound effects, have boomed in popularity. On Saturday, May 31, EDM Fest will be held at Caprara-Faichney Drive Business Center's banquet room. It will feature DJ Ryan Ess and headlining DJ Terin Thomson, a 2021 graduate of Alexandria Central School District. General admission tickets are $25. Doors open at 6 p.m., with event at 7.
"It's a different market for us — 18-to-24-year-olds," Campbell said. "We've never addressed that market before. We need to build tomorrow's audience. If we keep going the way we're going? The audience we have is getting older and there's nobody behind it. If we are going to sustain ourselves and have that sustainability down the road, we need to build a new audience and appeal to a younger audience and demographic."
Campbell said that "soccer moms" and their daughters are also heavily in the mix when, "Twist on Taylor — A Taylor Swift Tribute Experience" takes the stage at the Watertown Fairgrounds Arena at 7 p.m. Friday, June 13. Doors open at 5. It's a show by Sarah Jessica Rhodes, who was born in Texas and raised in Las Vegas. Her Taylor Swift impersonation started with her uncanny resemblance and similar voice which landed her a spot on the long running Las Vegas show, "The Super Stars of Country." She has taken "A Twist On Taylor" across the country with her band. Visual effects, intricate choreography and elaborate stage designs create an immersive experience.
Students share stage
Another tribute act will be Wednesday, Oct. 1 at Dulles State Office Building Auditorium with "Feelin' Good — The Michael Bublé Tribute," featuring Anthony Bernasconi and orchestra. DPAO has partnered with the show's producers to allow high school musicians and singers to be part of the concert. A total of eighteen student musicians and 12 chorus students from Watertown High School, Indian River, General Brown and South Jefferson will take part. The chorus will sing for one song, while the band will be on stage for the entire concert.
"It's a great opportunity for these kids to be on stage with national touring musicians," Campbell said. "Anthony is excited about it. It's the first time they've done anything like this with students."
Earlier this spring, DPAO announced it would bring in a monster truck event in July. That event has been scrapped. "We'll find a replacement," Campbell said. "We thought it was confirmed."
A Christian music concert is one possibility as a replacement, Campbell said. DPAO hosted such a show last year, Casting Crowns, with great success.
DPAO is also in talks to host the Christmas holiday rock opera, "Wizards of Winter" in November or December. "That's a pretty big production," Campbell said. "It's not confirmed yet, but I think we'll pull the trigger."
It would be held at the State Office Building auditorium. Many nonprofits have abandoned that location for events recently due to higher costs. "We don't have a problem with the State Office Building," Campbell said. "They treat us good. The cost has gone up, but so has everything else."
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For a complete list of DPAO events, including dates as to when tickets will be available, go to dpaoconcerts.com/events.