Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

THE ARTS

Veitch Out at Opera Pacific: Opera Pacific general director Patrick L. Veitch confirmed Wednesday that he has left the Irvine-based company. “At this point, I don’t have anything to say, other than verifying that I’m not there,” he said from his home near Newport Beach. Veitch’s one-year contract had expired last August. “The company will be seeking new leadership,” board Chairman Patrick T. Seaver said Wednesday in a prepared statement. Seaver said that a search committee will be formed this week. In the interim, he said, the company will be run by a team of productions director Dan Duro, artistic administrator Linda Jackson and marketing director George Sebastian. Opera Pacific’s next production, Puccini’s “La Boheme,” opens Jan. 6 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

Genaux Steps Up: Vivica Genaux, the American mezzo-soprano who has appeared in recent seasons as Rossini heroines at both Opera Pacific and the San Diego Opera, was scheduled to make her Metropolitan Opera debut on extremely short notice Wednesday night in the role of Rosina in “Il Barbiere di Siviglia.” She will repeat the role on Saturday on the live national radio broadcast, which can be heard locally at 10:30 a.m. on KUSC-FM (91.5). Genaux replaces Bulgarian mezzo Vasselina Kasarova, who cited severe laryngitis in canceling her performance. Genaux, who sang Rosina at Opera Pacific in 1996, will also take that role at San Diego Opera starting Jan. 24.

TELEVISION

Pledge Drive Successful: KCET-TV Channel 28 reported Wednesday that its 16-day on-air fund-raising drive had nearly met its $1-million goal. The public-TV station has received $988,000 in pledges so far, and by the time straggling pledges come in, the station expects to have exceeded its goal. Last December, KCET raised $990,000 as its final total; preliminarily it drew $928,220.

QUICK TAKES

Entertainers Jim Carrey and Rosie O’Donnell will be honored along with Joe Roth, chairman of Walt Disney Studios, and businessman Ron Burkle during AIDS Project Los Angeles’ 10th annual “Commitment to Life” fund-raising gala Feb. 12 at the Universal Amphitheatre. . . . Tuesday’s episode of NBC’s “Mad About You”--which aired virtually without commercial interruptions--attracted an audience of nearly 18 million, the program’s biggest since the season premiere, when the Buchmans named their baby. The program’s closest competition, ABC’s “Grace Under Fire,” attracted about 10 million viewers. . . . The Presidents of the United States of America, a Seattle rock band, have split up.