A pair of ice skaters reported to be a part of Frank Ocean’s headline set at Coachella before their segment was axed, have spoken on the matter.
Earlier this week, it was reported that a planned on-stage ice rink for the set was removed after Ocean injured his ankle during rehearsals. This prompted multiple last-minute changes. Now, speaking on the Empty Netters podcast, brothers Dan and Chris Powers have reflected on their supposed involvement with the scrapped stage production.
The pair discussed auditioning for the role on an elevated ice rink and rehearsing for around a month leading up to the performance. They claimed rehearsals with the other skaters ran until April 11th and that they were only informed about the change to Ocean’s set hours before he was due to take the stage.
“We get our call sheet, we have to go to this hotel to be picked up by a runner to be brought over to wardrobe and makeup,” Dan Powers said. “That moment is where the wheels started to fall off. We get to this hotel, we’re told to be there by 12. We then get a text that, ‘Ah, the runner’s not going to come ’til one.’ We then get another text, ‘Ah they’re not going to come til three.'”
Continuing: “We’re then waiting outside at three. We got our skates, we’re ready to rock. The bus of all the other skaters who weren’t at Coachella already has arrived. They’re all sitting in wardrobe. It’s a nightmare. We sit at this hotel and we run into the figure skaters, these Olympic figure skaters, mind you. And they have a disgruntled look on their faces, and they casually mention to us that they just got a phone call and they’ve been cut from the show. So we’re sitting there like, ‘What the fuck is happening right now?'”
Dan Powers then claimed that rumours started to abound that Ocean had been injured but that they were informed that they wouldn’t be in the show when preparing to go into makeup. He claimed there were to be 120 skaters in the performance.
Although it did not go to plan, the brothers spoke positively of their time working with Ocean. “The one thing that made me genuinely sad [after] spending some time with him over the last several weeks: He really cares about the production,” Chris Powers said. “He had a very clear vision, and even though that vision changed a lot, he was always on us, helping us, making sure everyone hit what he was picturing in his mind.”
