THE ARTS

Rome Cancels Summer Opera: Financial difficulties have prompted the cancellation of Rome’s summer opera season for the first time since the end of World War II. The Rome Opera House is struggling with a $33-million deficit; in February, its director stepped down amid investigations into the opera’s finances. The season’s cancellation follows the closure last month of the famed Baths of Caracalla, which had been home to summer open-air opera since 1938. Heritage Minister Alberto Ronchey said vibrations, heavy equipment and the 170,000 tourists who flocked annually to the summer concerts were destroying the site, begun under Emperor Antonius Caracalla and opened in 217 AD.

* Moriarty’s ‘Fair Lady’ Flops: Only two weeks after controversial actor Michael Moriarty stepped in to replace Richard Chamberlain as Prof. Henry Higgins in the Broadway hit revival of “My Fair Lady,” the producers have posted a notice that the show will close Sunday. The revival, seen here last summer at the Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, opened on Broadway to rave reviews in December. But business at the box office dropped dramatically when Moriarty took over the role after his much publicized departure from NBC-TV’s “Law and Order.” Chamberlain left “My Fair Lady” when his contract was up, reportedly because of differences with the producers.

MOVIES

‘Oleanna’ Film a Go: The Samuel Goldwyn Co. confirmed that Pulitzer Prize-winning writer David Mamet will indeed direct a film version of his controversial play “Oleanna,” which is currently playing at West Hollywood’s Tiffany Theatre. The play, which has received mixed reviews from critics, deals with an alleged incident of sexual harassment between a college professor and a female student. The lead roles will be played by longtime Mamet collaborators William H. Macy and Rebecca Pidgeon, who starred in the original New York production. Mamet won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for his play “Glengarry Glen Ross,” which was also later made into a film, and he was nominated for a 1982 Academy Award for his screenplay “The Verdict.” “Oleanna” is planned for release late this year.

* Director in Critical Care: Veteran director Richard Rush, whose credits include the Oscar-nominated movie “The Stunt Man” and “Freebie and the Bean,” underwent open-heart surgery at UCLA Medical Center Tuesday after suffering a heart attack Monday night. A hospital spokeswoman confirmed that Rush was in the critical care unit where, as of Wednesday morning, his condition was “critical but stable.” Last week, Rush was embroiled in a Directors Guild arbitration with Cinergi Productions over the final cut of the Bruce Willis movie “The Color of Night.” A Cinergi spokesman said that to his knowledge no ruling had yet been made.

POP/ROCK

Nirvana Sales Slowing: The rush for Nirvana albums after the suicide of lead singer Kurt Cobain is slowing. After climbing to No. 11 on the national pop charts last week, the group’s 1993 “In Utero” album drops to No. 15 on the Billboard magazine chart coming out Saturday--as sales fell from approximately 69,000 copies to 54,000. The group’s 1991 album, “Nevermind,” also drops--from No. 28 to No. 30. Hole’s “Live Through This,” the major label debut of the band led by Cobain’s widow Courtney Love, also fell slightly--from No. 55 to 61 in its second week of release. Pink Floyd’s “The Division Bell” continues to hold No. 1 on the charts, selling an estimated 157,000 copies last week.

LEGAL FILE

Slick, Rollins Go to Court: Rock star Grace Slick agreed to a plea bargain that reduced felony and misdemeanor charges against her to a single misdemeanor of brandishing a shotgun at police officers. Slick, the former lead singer of Jefferson Airplane, was charged in conjunction with a March 5 incident in which police showed up at her home near San Francisco after a neighbor complained that a drunken woman was firing a gun. The plea bargain reduced her potential jail time from three years in state prison to six to 12 months in county jail. She could avoid doing jail time if she is paroled to a six-month alcoholism treatment program. Sentencing is scheduled for June 6. . . . Also in court was actor Howard Rollins, who was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to driving under the influence of cocaine and driving with a suspended license. Rollins was also ordered to stay away for two years from the eastern Georgia communities where his former TV series, “In the Heat of the Night,” is filmed. “The court feels you need a change of scenery,” the judge told him. Rollins previously served 82 days in jail on a similar offense.

QUICK TAKES

“Picket Fences” creator David E. Kelley, “Thelma and Louise” screenwriter Callie Khouri, National Organization for Women founder Betty Friedan, and Los Angeles Times Television Critic Howard Rosenberg are among the speakers scheduled for “Sex, Violence or Love Between Equals 1994,” a daylong conference at the Bel Age Hotel today on “the continuing exploitation of, and violence toward, women in media portrayals and the lack of images depicting love between equals.” . . . Comedian Steve Allen hosts “Radio Live,” a series of classic radio shows to be performed at L.A. City College tonight by celebrities including Cindy Williams, Paul Winfield and Gary Owens.