Earthquake: The Long Road Back : Temporary Blackout for Theaters, Museums : Arts: ‘Sunset Boulevard’ is postponed for repairs on its massive set. Some artifacts are damaged, but galleries suffer heaviest toll.

One of the more dramatic moments in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Boulevard” occurs when the massive set re-creating Norma Desmond’s living room is raised off the stage and another scene is performed underneath.

That exercise in theatrical magic must have been on the minds of the show’s producers after Monday’s earthquake. Even if Tuesday night’s performance hadn’t been preempted by the extended curfew, the show at Century City’s Shubert Theater would have been canceled after a day of inspection by engineers and careful checking of mechanical cues.

“Sunset” spokesman Rick Miramontez said that although the engineers had deemed the theater safe for the audience, there had been some minor damage to the set and some backstage areas needed to be tidied up. He added that the power lines for the air-conditioning system had not yet been restored. “Everybody expects all of that to be in place” for tonight’s performance, Miramontez said.

Those temporary setbacks reflected the quake’s effect on the Southland’s arts and entertainment venues. Most major museums and theaters reported little if any damage, but Santa Monica galleries and small theaters in the San Fernando Valley were not so lucky.

Universal Studios reopened Tuesday, but the park’s “Earthquake” attraction was taken off the tour.

“It’s like flying the flag at half-mast,” said Joan Bullard, vice president of public relations. “We did the same thing after the (1989) San Francisco earthquake.”

The park’s “King Kong” attraction was closed because of structural damage, but attendance was still brisk Tuesday.

“If they can have a safe day, we’re open for them,” Bullard said. “Maybe it’ll take their minds off things.” Universal’s CityWalk was also open Tuesday.

Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia operates only on weekends at this time of year and officials expect to be open Saturday and Sunday.

Most art museums reported only minor damage to their buildings and collections. The Southwest Museum in Highland Park lost four ceramic works from its 12,000-piece collection, and cracks reappeared in walls that had been patched after previous quakes. It will be at least four weeks before the Burbank satellite of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles can reopen. It suffered major damage to ceiling tiles and its sprinkler system went off during the quake and flooded the main gallery ankle-deep, administrator Mary Ann Dunn said.

Some of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s exhibition cases were damaged, but the 100,000 artworks on display and in storage are intact. Neither the Museum of Contemporary Art nor the Santa Monica Museum of Art reported any damage. The J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu removed four small sculptural objects for remounting after they shifted in display cases, but the works were not seriously damaged, press officer Lori Starr said. None of the Getty Trust’s other facilities, including the Brentwood construction site for the planned Getty Center, was damaged.

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At many galleries, however, when earth shook, paintings flew off walls and artworks collided, windows broke, debris rained from ceilings and books pitched off shelves.

“I took a pretty good hit,” dealer Bryce Bannatyne said of his Santa Monica gallery. “The building is OK, but everything inside fell over.” Several Santa Monica dealers who lease spaces in a gallery complex on Broadway also were faced with cleanup. At Robert Berman, Patricia Shea and Mark Moore galleries, many artworks were damaged and a few were destroyed, but the dealers declined to identify the works affected or to state their value.

At the James Corcoran Gallery on 5th Street, ceramic pieces by James Mason and Kenneth Price were damaged beyond repair, glass covering framed drawings was broken and paintings were jostled out of storage racks, according to gallery director Sandra Starr. The brick and glass building also suffered damage. At the nearby Shoshona Wayne Gallery, dealer Wayne Blank was distressed about the loss of a $150,000 Bruce Nauman sculpture but relieved that the piece was insured.

The curfew extension canceled Tuesday’s preview performance of “Fool Moon” at the Ahmanson at the Doolittle in Hollywood, and a spokesman said the Wednesday night show would also be rescheduled.

Times staff writers Lawrence Christon, Richard Cromelin, Lynne Heffley, Jeff Prugh, Sherry Stern and David Wharton contributed to this report.