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

STAGE

Lobero Company Folding: Santa Barbara’s fledgling Lobero Stage Company is folding, a victim of poor ticket sales. The Lobero Theatre Foundation board voted unanimously Tuesday to pull the plug on the company, which opened its second production, “John Brown’s Body,” last weekend. As of press time, the company still hoped to present its third scheduled production, Noel Coward’s “Fallen Angels,” May 9 to 25. A fourth production is possible, but the company is not expected to return for a second season.

LEGAL FILE

Downey, Lawrence Updates: A judge has agreed to alter Robert Downey Jr.’s drug probation terms to allow him to take a role in a film whose producers wanted proof that a relapse wouldn’t automatically land Downey back in jail. But while agreeing to stay any custody time until after filming, the judge increased Downey’s random drug testing to twice a week. . . . Los Angeles city attorneys filed a battery charge Wednesday against actor Martin Lawrence for allegedly punching a man after the two bumped into each other at a nightclub last month. Arraignment for Lawrence, 32, is scheduled for Friday at Hollywood Municipal Court; the charge carries a maximum six months in jail and a $2,000 fine.

QUICK TAKES

Disneyland’s “The Lion King Celebration” will make its final roar on June 1. Remaining parade times will be 2:30 and 4:30 p.m., Fridays through Sundays, through May 25, as well as on May 26 to 29, May 31 and June 1. . . . Gay pride groups have found a Birmingham, Ala., theater to carry a satellite feed of the April 30 “coming out” episode of “Ellen.” The local ABC affiliate there thus far remains the only station refusing to air the episode. Meanwhile, a former media director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Robert Bray, held a press conference Wednesday to criticize star Ellen DeGeneres for saying in a magazine interview that she didn’t want to be a spokeswoman for the gay community. . . . Former “Hard Copy” correspondent Diane Dimond has signed a deal with Telepictures Productions to develop her own talk show. In the interim, Dimond will work on the syndicated “Extra.” . . . High school students nationwide will celebrate the 35th anniversary of the movie version of “To Kill a Mockingbird” today and Friday when the American Film Institute, along with the National Council of Teachers of English and the Prince William Network, sends a satellite feed of the film and an AFI interview with star Gregory Peck into more than 100,000 classrooms around the country. . . . The Federal Communications Commission has scheduled its first hearing on the effectiveness of the new TV ratings system for June 4.