Taper Cancels Summer Tour of Britain

The Mark Taper Forum’s six-week summer tour of Great Britain has been canceled--a casualty of the Persian Gulf War.

The Taper was preparing to send its upcoming production of “Julius Caesar” and its acclaimed 1988 staging of “Stand-Up Tragedy” to England and Scotland in exchange for the Renaissance Theatre Company’s visit to the Taper last year with “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “King Lear.”

But “there is great concern about moving large groups of Americans around,” said Taper artistic director Gordon Davidson, who consulted with Renaissance artistic director Kenneth Branagh before making his decision. “And there is uncertainty as to whether it will get worse.” He said he was also afraid “that we might not get the audiences our presenters need.” The London box office has sagged since the war began.

Davidson expressed gratitude to Actors’ Equity for extending the amount of time in which the Americans’ half of the reciprocal exchange can take place. “We will look to 1992,” he added, “but it won’t be the same repertoire necessarily.”

“We all pray for an end to this conflict and look forward to hosting the Taper company during the (peaceful) summer of 1992,” said Renaissance managing director David Parfitt, according to a Taper statement.

‘Lucifer’s’ Not Coming: “Lucifer’s Child,” a one-woman show starring Julie Harris as writer Isak Dinesen, won’t make its scheduled April 1-May 5 run at the Henry Fonda Theatre. The show’s producer, Ronald Lee, and the Nederlander Organization, which had booked and announced the show, couldn’t come to terms, said Arthur Rubin, Nederlander vice president.

He declined to be more specific, and Lee could not be reached for comment. “Lucifer’s” will be replaced on the Nederlander’s Playgoers subscription series with “An Evening With Peter Ustinov,” which was announced last week and slated for a five-week run beginning June 18.

So why is “Lucifer’s Child” still being advertised on the posters for the Playgoers series in the Henry Fonda lobby?

Old Globe Plans: The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego has announced four of the six entries in its summer schedule--and a switch in its spring schedule.

The West Coast premiere of Graham Reid’s “Remembrance,” about a Catholic-Protestant middle-aged love match in contemporary Ireland, will occupy the Cassius Carter Centre Stage from May 4 to June 16. It replaces Ricardo Talesnik’s “La Fiaca,” which has been shifted to a late summer slot, Sept. 11-Oct. 27.

Jack O’Brien will direct “The Merchant of Venice” June 21-Sept. 8, and Adrian Hall will stage “The Tempest” Aug. 2-Sept. 29 in the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre.

July 3-Aug. 18 are the dates for “Necessities,” a play about an adoption, by Velina Hasu Houston, whose “Tea” played the Old Globe in 1988 and is currently playing the Odyssey Theatre in West Los Angeles. “Necessities” will be staged in the Cassius Carter.

Big B.O.: The Los Angeles box office set another record last week, according to Daily Variety’s compilation of grosses from seven of the town’s top shows.

The take from those seven shows last week was $2,312,828, topping the previous week’s record-setting total by $65,834.

Godzilla Watch: The Groundlings have changed the title of their next revue from “Groundlings vs. Godzilla” to “Groundlings Confidential” because of legal action threatened by the company that licenses the use of “Godzilla.”

Said Groundlings executive director Mark Richard, “I guess we chose to do battle with the wrong mutant.”