DAZZLING | The estimated attendance at the Razzle Dazzle Main Event was 4,100, down from 25,000 in 2012. But organizers said the dropoff was expected and mostly due to the fact that everyone on the Cedar Springs strip was counted as attending the event last year. (Chuck Marcelo/Dallas Voice)
Disco diva Thelma Houston helped last Friday’s MetroBall set a fundraising record this year.
And while attendance was down from last year at Saturday’s Main Event, Razzle Dazzle Dallas chair John Cooper-Lara called the festival at Main Street Garden a success. Proceeds from the Main Event were still being counted.
Proceeds from Friday night’s MetroBall were up 20 percent over last year with $40,000 raised for the Greg Dollgener Memorial AIDS Fund. That’s an $8,500 increase over the previous year and almost double the 2011 total.
GDMAF works through various AIDS organizations to provide financial assistance of last resort to help with a rent payment, utility bill or medication co-pay.
“We attribute the success of MetroBall to a fantastic silent auction featuring Ellen DeGeneres Show tickets, Southwest Airlines tickets and, appropriately, a giant mirrored ball,” Cooper-Lara said.
The increase came despite a slight decrease in attendance. Houston’s participation was part of the silent auction’s success.
“We’re going old school,” she told the crowd and started collecting money from the stage.
Houston has entertained in gay bars since the 1970s when her hit “Don’t Leave Me This Way” won a Grammy Award. She participated in AIDS fundraising through the worst of the AIDS crisis.
Making this the most successful MetroBall turned into a personal challenge for her.
Event planner David Berryman estimated attendance at the Saturday night Main Event at 4,100.
The estimate is based on wrist bands sold at the entrance gate but with vendors, people going in and out of the park and VIP passes, the actual number inside the park was difficult to calculate.
This year’s attendance was down significantly from the official estimate of 25,000 at last year’s event on Cedar Springs Road, but organizers anticipated the dropoff, according to Cooper-Lara.
“Last year, we counted all the people going to bars and restaurants on Cedar Springs,” Cooper-Lara said.
Because last year’s event was on a public street, the event could not charge for access to private businesses, so many got in without paying.
He said this year’s numbers are an actual, physical count of paid attendees.
“The bones are there to build a good event going forward,” Cooper-Lara said. “The challenge this year was moving it Downtown.”
He said everyone on the Razzle Dazzle committee walked around the grounds, thrilled with the execution but getting lots of ideas for next year.
Much of the entertainment, which included the Turtle Creek Chorale, the Women’s Chorus of Dallas, singers and bands, donated their time to be part of the community event.
Cooper-Lara said among the most popular entertainers were the pole dancers who attracted large crowds as much for their gravity-defying acrobatics as their skimpy costumes. But part of their appeal was how they interacted with attendees throughout the night.
He said next year he’d like to bring in a headline act to help draw more people, but said that would have to be kept within budget. That’s a lesson the organization learned from the 2003 Razzle
Dazzle. Bringing in the Village People that year bankrupted the event, which was then suspended for almost a decade.
Cooper-Lara said an announcement of the amount raised will be made toward the end of June.
Eight beneficiaries will split proceeds from the Downtown party. Last year, Razzle Dazzle Dallas distributed $25,000 from the Main Event.
The amount to be distributed this year will be determined after bills are paid and seed money is set aside for next year’s event. Proceeds include the $5 admission fee, as well as proceeds from beverage sales and space rentals by food trucks, community organizations and LGBT businesses.
Publicist Kris Martin said Fair Park has been lobbying for Razzle Dazzle Dallas to move there. The original party in 1979 was held in the Hall of State and subsequent events were staged in several other buildings on the fairgrounds.
Cooper-Lara and Berryman said the committee was so happy with this year’s location and the cooperation they got from Downtown Dallas, Inc., they’re already leaning toward at least one more year at Main Street Garden.
— David Taffet
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition June 14, 2013.