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

MUSIC

Sounds of Silence: The financially strapped San Diego symphony Wednesday canceled the four remaining concerts of its truncated spring season as the search for money continues. The symphony had been forced to cancel concerts last weekend after the 79 musicians refused to perform unless they were paid back wages. Symphony board President Elsie Weston said a decision has not yet been made on whether the symphony will file for bankruptcy. “We are deeply saddened by the decision to cancel the remaining concerts,” Weston said. “It is our hope that future planning and restructuring will bring back our outstanding symphony orchestra to concert-goers in the near future.” The symphony closed briefly earlier this year but then resumed a shortened schedule of concerts after musicians agreed to wait to receive money owed them from as far back as November 1995. But an April 15 deadline for the back payments was not met. Weston said that ticket holders can return their tickets for a tax-deductible contribution or request a refund. Just when the symphony will be able to pay those refunds is unknown, she added.

MOVIES

Direct With Spielberg: Director Steven Spielberg is branching out to the CD-ROM business, and he’s picked Quentin Tarantino, “Friends” star Jennifer Aniston and magicians Penn & Teller as his stars in the project. Called “Steven Spielberg’s Movie Maker,” the CD-ROM will take users through what is being billed as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for players to direct some of Hollywood’s hottest talents and work hand-in-hand with movie-making icon Spielberg.” Users will be “responsible for executing all aspects of the movie-making process and producing the industry’s most promising blockbuster movie.” Among the areas to be mastered are the movie’s budget, cast and crew, and editing.

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Whose ‘Cable Guy’?: Jim Carrey’s “The Cable Guy” doesn’t open until June 14, but the Columbia Pictures movie has already come under fire from screenwriter Judd Apatow, who has filed an L.A. Superior Court petition seeking to force the Writers Guild of America to give him screenwriting credit on the film. Apatow said that he wrote 99% of the movie’s dialogue, and that Columbia named him as writer in the tentative credits, but that the guild’s arbitration panel decided instead to give final writing credit to Lou Holtz Jr. A guild spokesman could not be reached for comment.

TELEVISION

Protest Averted: After being pressured by the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Community Services Center, KCBS-TV Channel 2 has revised a station editorial on AIDS, deleting the line that “A new report by the CDC indicates the spread of AIDS is down in all categories and is not an epidemic.” Bob Navarro, Channel 2’s director of editorials and public affairs, said that he stands by his line about AIDS not being an epidemic, based on information that infection is down among the “majority population,” although it is increasing in some minority groups. But he said he agreed to delete it because it was based on his own interpretation of statistics, not on Centers for Disease Control material. Jim Key, director of public information for the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center, said that the center still has concerns that viewers may have been misinformed by the editorial, but is appeased by the line’s removal. Channel 2 also promised to work with the center to produce a public service announcement on AIDS targeting those communities most at risk for the infection. The editorial began airing last Sunday and will continue through Saturday.

POP/ROCK

Fugees Oust Hootie: The Fugees’ “The Score” has regained the No. 1 spot on the list of national best-selling albums, SoundScan reported Wednesday. The collection by the acclaimed New Jersey-based rap trio sold 205,000 units last week, edging Hootie & the Blowfish’s “Fairweather Johnson” by about 1,000 copies.

QUICK TAKES

Actor Christopher Reeve, paralyzed in a horseback riding accident last May, lobbied Congress on Wednesday for more funds for spinal cord research, saying that if scientists are adequately financed, he might be able to walk in seven years. Reeve met President Clinton earlier Wednesday and said the president assured him of at least $10 million more this year earmarked specifically for spinal cord research. . . . Actors Melanie Griffith, 38, and Antonio Banderas, 35, were married in a 15-minute civil ceremony in London Tuesday. The couple are expecting a child in September. . . . “Homicide: Life on the Street” star Andre Braugher will hold a live chat on the Microsoft Network (go word: NBC) and on the World Wide Web’s (https://nbc.com) today at 6 p.m. . . . Comedians Ben Stiller and Janeane Garofalo have been named co-hosts of the 1996 MTV Movie Awards, airing June 13 on the cable network. . . . A revival of a mid-’20s Hungarian farce “The Play’s the Thing,” by Ferenc Molnaar, will be staged by Tom Moore as the third production of the 1996-97 Ahmanson Theatre season, April 30-June 15, 1997. . . . As expected, Bob Goen, who has been weekend anchor/correspondent for “Entertainment Tonight” since 1993, will take over the weekday anchor desk on May 31, the day after the departure of longtime “ET” host John Tesh.