POMONA, Calif. — Next week, the Fox Theater Pomona will provide high schoolers and their families an opportunity to celebrate the looming end of the school year with what organizers are calling a “prom walk-thru photo experience,” based on Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film interpretation of Shakespeare’s "Romeo and Juliet."

It’s been a long year for independent venues like Fox Theater Pomona. Operators have had to get creative throughout the pandemic to keep the doors open.

The Fox, for instance, has offered its marquee for advertising or birthday shoutouts, and used the interior venue space for filming or rehearsals.

But the theater is no stranger to hosting high school prom events, said Galo Galvan, the Fox’s director of sales, marketing and business development.

“With everything going on, we’ve decided to do this prom because we didn’t know what was going on, and we wanted to create something unique so people can come and enjoy the Fox,” Galvan said.

The walk-thru prom promises to be an immersive event, incorporating the architecture of the theater (for instance, curved walls supporting the theater’s stairs will act as a “fishbowl”) while also using augmented reality and hard-light effects, Galvan said.

“We could make this really fun. Kids and their parents will want photos, so let’s set it up so they can come and enjoy the theater, and make it immersive and interactive,” Galvan said.

This won’t be the last bit of creative programming planned for the historic theater, which was built in 1931 and most recently remodeled in 2009. The Fox is also planning to run an ‘80s film series this summer and will soon send out surveys to get the public’s opinion on what to run.

The Fox Theater Pomona’s Prom 2021 Walk-Thru Photo Experience will run for three days, May 21 through May 23. Tickets are $30 each. For more information, visit foxpomona.com.