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If there’s anything Hollie Keeton has learned in 25 years of pulling off large-scale productions as owner of Newport Beach’s First Class Events, it’s that the show must go on.
That lesson was driven home last spring, when the coronavirus pandemic began dropping atomic bombs on even the best laid plans. Keeton was organizing 50 different high school proms when she began to see the writing on the wall.
“Every single one of them canceled,” the Newport Beach resident recalled. “I, like everybody, was completely in the spin cycle — I had no idea what to.”
Her first instinct was to postpone the events to later in the year. But as the pandemic wore on, and plans for 30 winter formal dances were dashed, Keeton knew she would have to retool.