'Beetlejuice' Musical Sued After Stagehand Falls To His Death

NEW YORK CITY — The "Beetlejuice" musical is set for a return to Broadway — but its revival could be haunted by a tragedy.

A wrongful death lawsuit filed last week by the estate of Peter Wright claims the stagehand's fatal November 2020 fall was caused by the musical's production companies' negligence.

Wright, 54, fell from the fly floor — an elevated platform above the stage — at the Winter Garden Theater, which previously hosted the "Beetlejuice" musical, police said.

The fall caused devastating injuries, from a skull fracture to a brain hemorrhage to a severed spinal cord, that caused Wright's death, a civil complaint details.

"Solely as a result of the Defendants' negligence, carelessness and recklessness, Plaintiff-Decedent PETER WRIGHT suffered fear of imminent death, pre-impact terror and sustained severe, serious and fatal injuries to his head, body and limbs and the muscles, blood vessels, tendons, ligaments, bones, brain, nerves and senses of the entire body, all of which caused conscious pain and suffering and resulted in his eventual demise and wrongful death," the complaint states.

The complaint names Beetlejuice Broadway and three companies — Aurora Productions, Bespoke Theatricals and Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures — involved in the show as defendants.

Representatives for the companies didn't return requests for comment.

The lawsuit doesn't name the theater itself as a defendant. Instead, it accuses the production companies of poor practices that left Wright without measures such as a harness or safety lines.

The accusations dovetail with an Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation from 2021 that ended with inspectors citing the Shubert Organization, which operates the Winter Garden, for four violations, three of which were labeled "serious."

OSHA records give a brief account of Wright's death.

"The employee leaned a ladder on the top rail of the guardrails on the fly stage, and worked from the ladder," the records state. "The ladder created a fulcrum on the top rail and pivoted forward over the guardrails when the employee climbed up. The employee was thrown off the ladder and fell approximately 30 feet to the performance stage floor. The employee died from blunt force trauma to head and torso."

The incident unfolded after the "Beetlejuice" production ended and before the next show — "The Music Man" starring Hugh Jackman — moved in, Deadline reported.

"Beetlejuice" performances will resume April 8 at the Marquis Theatre, according to the show's website.

Patch writer Nick Garber contributed to this report.