Grove Artistic Chief Quits; Season Shaky : Stage: The resignation comes amid a money crunch for the beleaguered company. ‘King Lear,’ the first show on the outdoor schedule, is postponed.

The artistic director of GroveShakespeare, Orange County’s second-largest professional theater company, has resigned in a stunning move certain to hamper if not cripple or kill its outdoor season at the Festival Amphitheatre here.

W. Stuart McDowell, who took over the financially beleaguered troupe little more than a year ago, quit Thursday night at an emergency meeting of the Grove board of trustees, only days before he was to begin rehearsals of the opening show, “King Lear.”

“The money isn’t there for me to go off into the rehearsal room while also trying to manage the company and raise funds,” McDowell said Friday in a telephone interview. “I took a hard look at all the facts and in good conscience felt I couldn’t continue.”

McDowell’s resignation, effective immediately, came amid continuing signs of GroveShakespeare’s disintegration, including recent staff resignations, cash-flow problems and a deficit, according to Grove board president David Krebs, of as much as $180,000 “or more.”

Krebs maintained Friday, nevertheless, that, “we are moving forward with our plans as scheduled.” The first preview of “King Lear,” however, has been postponed a week to June 23, shortening the prospective run by a week.

Jules Aaron will step in as interim artistic director for the season, but he will not stage “King Lear,” Krebs said.

Meanwhile, the company has yet to sign its agreement with Actors’ Equity allowing rehearsals to begin Monday, as had been expected. But a union spokesman confirmed Friday that the required bond protecting two weeks’ salary and benefits for the union cast members in the show has been filed.

“At this point,” Aaron said, “we’re trying to do two things: We’re in negotiation with a director for ‘Lear,’ and we’re looking to put into place the rest of the funding.

“If we do ‘Lear,’ we want to do it right. Right now that’s up in the air. We don’t know if we can afford to do it.

“We’re not going to go ahead with the season,” he added, “unless we can find the funding.”

Despite the appearance of having been fired, McDowell said he “wished the theater well” and that his departure was amicable. Krebs agreed but conceded the board unanimously accepted McDowell’s resignation and had made no effort to persuade him to stay on.

McDowell, 46, said he had no immediate prospects. He said he would seek free-lance directing assignments elsewhere. He noted, moreover, that he was “very proud” of his short-lived tenure at the Grove.

He staged one show--”Private Lives” at the Gem Theatre--since coming to the company in April, 1992, as a replacement for Grove founder Thomas F. Bradac. Bradac had been ousted by the board in July, 1991, over managerial disputes.

Krebs said a press conference would be held next week to discuss the 14-year-old Grove’s fate.