The wife of a Broadway stagehand who fell to his death from a ladder 30 feet over the stage at an empty Winter Garden Theatre in 2020 is suing the producers of the Beetlejuice musical, claiming that the production companies involved in the show were negligent and failed to provide proper protections.
Marcie Simone Lowy Wright of New Haven, Connecticut, filed the wrongful death lawsuit in the Supreme Court of New York on March 10, naming Beetlejuice Broadway, Aurora Productions, Bespoke Theatricals and Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures as defendants. The complaint seeks an unspecified amount of damages.
Peter Wright, a 54-year-old stagehand, was working at the Winter Garden on what was described at the time as routine theater maintenance following the load-out of the Broadway musical Beetlejuice and prior to the arrival of the venue’s current tenant, The Music Man.
According to the suit, Wright plummeted to his death as the result of an “improperly secured” fly stage, guardrails and ladders. The defendants, according to the suit, “failed to provide proper and approved safety devices” such as scaffolding, hoists and braces.
Not named in the suit was the Shubert Organization, which owns the Winter Garden. Last year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the theater owner with four safety violations in connection to the death, calling the violations “serious” but not “willfull” or “repeat.” The citations mostly involved the use or misuse of a ladder, including the use of a ladder that may have been coated with a material that might obscure structural defects. The citations also suggested that the ladder was not used for its designed purpose or secured on a stable or level surface.
The defendants have not yet responded to the suit’s claims.
Beetlejuice resumes Broadway performances on Friday, April 8, now at the Marquis Theatre. The cast in place prior to the pandemic shutdown and venue move, headed by Alex Brightman in the title role, will return.