Accident at Winter Garden
Accident at Winter Garden
bwaylyric
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/22/03
Sutton Ross
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
#3Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/12/20 at 3:11pm
So sad to hear this. I hope more info is forthcoming soon from a less superficial source.
SayNoToJugs
Swing Joined: 7/9/20
#4Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/12/20 at 3:28pm
I hate that they reduce them down to just "a stagehand." Hope a proper memorial is held soon.
#5Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/12/20 at 3:37pm
BWW: Why did you choose to provide a link to an article that is so unnecessarily graphic?
Sutton Ross
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
#6Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/12/20 at 3:39pmYeah, the truth about death is usually..... graphic.
ArtMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/10/08
#7Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/12/20 at 4:04pm
Can someone educate me on what a fly floor is? I tried a search and still just as clueless.
#8Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/12/20 at 4:10pm
well, there are a number of our colleagues here who can explain in more detail if needed but "fly" refers to the rigging system above the stage by which scenic elements (etc) are "flown" onto the stage. So a fly floor is the surface on which one stands to access the fly.
#9Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/12/20 at 4:18pm
HogansHero said: "So sad to hear this. I hope more info is forthcoming soon from a less superficial source."
https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Stagehand-Dies-Following-Fall-From-Fly-Floor-At-The-Winter-Garden-Theatre-20201112
Devastating news.
ArtMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/10/08
#10Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/12/20 at 4:19pm
Hogan, so is the fly floor , a small surface in which one stands? How high above the stage? A safety belt/harness required? Thanks for the info.
Broadway Joe
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/15/10
#11Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/12/20 at 4:21pm
That's really sad to hear.
SayNoToJugs said: "I hate that they reduce them down to just "a stagehand." Hope a proper memorial is held soon."
The family might not have been notified yet
#12Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/12/20 at 4:42pm
ArtMan said: "Hogan, so is the fly floor , a small surface in which one stands? How high above the stage? A safety belt/harness required? Thanks for the info."
Here's a decent illustration of a fly floor. They are usually 50+ feet above the stage, and yes fall protection equipment is usually required when up there.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/428756826998718637/
ArtMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/10/08
Alex Kulak2
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/11/16
#14Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/12/20 at 5:08pm
I don’t know if anyone will take comfort from this, but a fall from that high would have killed the stagehand instantly. At least they didn’t suffer.
Updated On: 11/12/20 at 05:08 PM
ghostlight2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
#15Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/12/20 at 5:09pm
That looks more like a grid than a fly floor, itsjustmejon.
Think of a fly floor as a loft on one side of the stage. It isn't an easy thing to fall off of, and no, people don't ever wear harnesses on the fly floor.
ghostlight2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
#16Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/12/20 at 5:25pm
Alex, the news report says he died at the hospital.
From what I am hearing, he fell from the grid, essentially the highest place in the theater, directly above the stage. There are not a lot of places you can fall from, but the ladder well is one of them. Maybe he missed a rung on the ladder. Tripped? Had a heart attack?
#17Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/12/20 at 6:28pm
it's hard to know which reports to believe at this stage, but if you credit the porter, the ladder certainly seems like the more plausible explanation. Horrible regardless.
ghostlight2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
#18Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/12/20 at 6:58pm
Yes.
The articles talking about the stagehand retrieving "props" makes zero sense. People are just throwing out terms they've heard.There are two "fly floors" in most theaters. Think of them as lofts on either side of the stage in the wings. One is for electrics, the other is for scenery. It is usually about 50 feet in the air, but there's a rail and it is not easy to fall from.
Above that is the grid, and Winter Garden has one of the highest. The grid spans the width of the stage. You can see the stage through the slats, which is disconcerting, but again, little chance of falling and also again, people do not wear harnesses up there - not yet, anyway.
Awful any way you look at it.
#19Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/12/20 at 8:17pm
The first report that I saw also suggested this involved striking the BJ set but the impression I had was that there was not a crew there, just the victim and the porter were mentioned. Striking the BJ set would not be a solo operation, even if it were only a part. (Again, I am not pretending to be an expert on this; anything I know is from the vantage point of terra firma. I have a pretty good significant fear of heights, even on my kitchen ladder.) There was also mention of head protection and that's another area that will hopefully be explained at some point. It is concerning that the name has apparently been withheld so far, which suggests to me they are having trouble notifying next of kin, itself a tragedy.
ghostlight2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
#20Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/12/20 at 8:39pm
There was a crew there. Head gear would not have mattered at all.The grid at the Winter Garden is one of the highest that Broadway has, somewhere around 90 feet.
The stagehand's name is known. It's a large family. Most have been notified.
#22Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/12/20 at 9:23pm
Thanks, Ghost. I'm shutting down my curiosity now, out of respect.
Fosse76
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/21/05
#23Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/13/20 at 3:59pm
ghostlight2 said: "Alex, the news report says he died at the hospital."
Actually, the article stated he was pronounced dead at the hospital. That doesn't mean he didn't die on the scene. Generally, only a physician or nurse can pronounce a death (it varies by state). Since they usually don't get dispatched to the scene, the pronouncement doesn't happen until they arrive at thYe hospital.
**ETA
NYS doesn't restrict pronouncements of deaths to only physicians or nurses. However, that doesn't mean he wasn't dead on the scene.
#24Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/13/20 at 4:12pm
Fosse76 said: "ghostlight2 said: "Alex, the news report says he died at the hospital."
Actually, the article stated he was pronounced dead at the hospital. That doesn't mean he didn't die on the scene. Generally, only a physician or nurse can pronounce a death (it varies by state). Since they usually don't get dispatched to the scene, the pronouncement doesn't happen until they arrive at the hospital."
EMTs (and others who are not doctors) can pronounce in New York. In the early days of the pandemic, some deceased people were taken by EMTs directly from home to the refrigerated morgue trucks after they pronounced.
ETA: He could have been dead but EMTs are trained to continue efforts until certain protocols have been followed. The hospital was close by, so it is entirely possible they had not given up.
ETA #2: The Times report clarifies (a) that it was indeed a ladder (from the fly floor) and (b) that he was doing routine maintenance.
#25Accident at Winter Garden
Posted: 11/13/20 at 7:16pm
Just so horrible. May he rest in peace. Without a stage crew, there would be no plays or musicals for us to see and admire.
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