“Spider-Man” isn’t the only dangerous show on Broadway, a new lawsuit claims.
Two theatergoers filed a $4 million suit yesterday over injuries they suffered while watching “Billy Elliot: The Musical.”
Elaine Rosen and Cynthia Noblit, both of Kansas City, Mo., were sitting in the front row of the Imperial Theatre when they got creamed by a prop that came flying off the stage, their Manhattan federal lawsuit says.
The women were both hit “right in the face” by a plastic crate that either slipped out of a dancer’s hands or was accidentally kicked into the audience, said their lawyer, Steven Halperin.
The mishap occurred during a big dance number just before the curtain came down on the first act of the Nov. 23, 2009, performance.
“The lights came on, they were taken out, and the show went on,” Halperin said.
Neither woman lost consciousness, but both were rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.
Rosen, 54, suffered a “fairly deep” gash that needed stitches and left a “permanent scar” on her face, Halperin said.
Noblit, 60, was diagnosed with a concussion after undergoing an MRI and CT scan.
The lawyer said the theater “reached out” to the women afterward and invited them back to see the Tony-winning show through to its conclusion.
He also said the show’s staging was changed to prevent the accident from happening again.
The women’s suit charges the show’s producers, Billy Broadway and NBC Universal, with “general negligence” for “arranging a hazardous and dangerous choreography” and “failing to give . . . any notice or warning” to the audience.
The filing demands at least $2 million for each woman.
“They certainly didn’t go to the theater, sit in the first row and expect to assume the risk of getting clobbered in their seats,” Halperin said.
“It’s not like going to a baseball game or a hockey tournament.”
The suit follows a string of serious injuries suffered by performers during previews at the Foxwoods Theatre of the problem-plagued $65 million musical, “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.”
Calls for comment to “Billy Elliot’s” rep and lawyer weren’t returned.
Additional reporting by Dan Mangan