Love Lies Bleeding (ballet)

The first was a Joni Mitchell inspired ballet called The Fiddle and the Drum, which was also directed and choreographed by Grand-Maître.

[4] Grand-Maitre wanted to hear John's thoughts and intentions for the vision of the ballet before deciding the specifics about the production.

[3] Love Lies Bleeding became a 1.2 - 1.5 million dollar production, doubling its original budget estimate.

The production featured 30 dancers and spawned another jukebox ballet collaboration with Sarah McLachlan titled Fumbling Towards Ecstasy.

[1] The show's main character is Elton Fan, a representation of John as he goes through his struggles with fame, homosexuality, and drug use.

They are a group of dancers that appear throughout the show to lead Elton Fan to the dark elements of fame and homosexual prejudice.

In their three numbers with Elton Fan they represent "pain and victimization in Have Mercy on the Criminal, the destroyers of beauty in Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, and the killers of dreams in The King Must Die".

The Bridge also features a duet between Elton Fan and another male dancer, ending the dance with a kiss.

[1] Other characters that are specific to certain numbers include dancers dressed as baseball players, nuns, angels, and cowgirls.

"[1] Critics categorized Love Lies Bleeding as ballet-lite[2] and wrote that the elements of jazz and musical theater in the choreography made it more accessible to a broad audience.

Paula Citron of The Globe and Mail said that "the non-stop parade of razzle-dazzle costumes by Martine Bertrand rivals Las Vegas for sheer spectacle" and "Adam Larsen's eye-popping projections provide the showy backdrop for the dancing".

Paula Citron of The Globe and Mail also said that "it seemed the razzle-dazzle of the staging hid a multitude of flaws".

[2] Gail Johnson from The Georgia Straight questioned if Grand-Maître was becoming predictable with his jukebox ballets.

[10] Grand-Maître explained that "if we go to London, we go to Sadler's Wells Theatre, or if we go to New York, we go to City Center...We don't want to pretend it's a Broadway show.