Soap opera slip-up as Dallas event ‘rips off’ loyal fans

AN EVENT held to celebrate the 30th anniversary of TV soap Dallas created a drama worthy of the Ewing family itself, after fans who paid hundreds to meet the cast got nowhere near them.

Others, meanwhile, mingled with stars for just €76.

The furore happened partly because hundreds more people than expected turned up for Saturday night’s barbecue and cast reunion at the famed Southfork Ranch in Texas.

The event’s organisers and Southfork chiefs are blaming each other for allowing the gatecrashers in.

“It was a huge letdown — totally not worth it. I do feel like I got really ripped off,” said Elizabeth Knight, who paid €300 in order to meet the cast.

“It was a disaster. It was total chaos,” said Mickey James, 50, from Irving, Texas, who paid €385. “We couldn’t even get close to the stage. It was like a slap in the face.”

Fans had paid between €75 and €765 for tickets, with those who paid higher prices promised greater access to JR Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Patrick Duffy and others.

Jason Hardison, the event’s executive producer, said instead of the 2,000 people expected, 4,000 arrived to celebrate one of the most popular prime-time soap operas in TV history.

Viewed panoramically in the show’s introduction, the ranch is in the Dallas suburb of Parker, about 25 miles north of Dallas.

“I’m brokenhearted about what happened and I feel like the fans were cheated out of what was promised to them,” said Mr Hardison.

But an official with the management company involved said Mr Hardison was responsible for the event and would have been in charge of the security, including the gates.

Ms Cook also disputed Mr Hardison’s crowd estimate, saying there were between 1,500 to 2,000 people there.

But €75 ticketholder Joy Garcia was overjoyed to “get the same access that everyone else did”.