USIU Cuts Back Shows, Degree Programs

Ten off-campus concerts by the International Orchestra of financially strapped United States International University, and one ballet performance by the school’s International Ballet, have been canceled.

Following USIU’s filing for bankruptcy last month in order to draw up a reorganization plan to cover an estimated $14-million debt, the university announced Tuesday that the performances were being cut in an effort to reduce expenses.

Performances of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in March and “The Pirates of Penzance” in May are under review, said Anne Slavicek, a university spokeswoman.

The School of Performing and Visual Arts will continue to offer classes and a limited number of performances on the USIU campus, which is in Scripps Ranch.

Although bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in theater and musical theater will continue, the programs in art and design, music, and design and technology for the performing arts will be suspended, along with the undergraduate degree in television production and the master’s degree in theater arts management. The bachelor’s and master’s degree majors in dance will be suspended, although dance will continue to be taught as part of the musical theater program, the school said in a press release.

It also noted that “suspension means that no new students will be enrolled in the majors. The school will provide courses in those areas to allow all students scheduled to graduate in June to complete their degrees.”

This semester, about 150 students are enrolled in the theater and musical theater programs.

Among the canceled music performances are two concerts at La Jolla’s Sherwood Auditorium, including a Jan. 18 performance with violinist Eugene Fodor; four programs at San Diego’s College Avenue Baptist Church, and four all-Mozart concerts at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts.

Slavicek said the future of the orchestra itself is uncertain. (Mary Philips, dean of USIU’s School for the Visual and Performing Arts, was not available for comment Tuesday afternoon following the announcement.) Since the orchestra has rehearsed and performed off-campus, Slavicek said, she doubts that adequate on-campus facilities could be found.

The scholarships for orchestra members, however, many of whom are from China, will be honored. Those students will continue to take English courses, even if the orchestra does not rehearse. Undergraduate and master’s courses in music also will continue.

Anyone holding season tickets to the International Orchestra series can exchange them for tickets to on-campus performances, Slavicek said. For example, a Thursday orchestra concert scheduled for the Poway Center for the Performing Arts has been replaced by a chamber concert by the USIU International Chamber players.

Jack Tygett, head of musical theater for USIU, and Andrew Barnicle, head of theater, said they expect the theater season to be completed as scheduled. But they said performances, which were to have been performed at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts, will probably be moved on campus.

The theater programs have experienced a series of financial setbacks in the past year, and if they are to continue they will do so with a significantly streamlined budget of about $200,000, compared to a high of more than $1 million, Barnicle said.

The school recently gave up its longtime venue, the 240-seat Theatre in Old Town, because the cost of maintenance was too high.