An expected war with Iraq could be the cause for a performance’s cancellation at the Lied Center.

The Peking Opera, which was scheduled to perform March 29 at the Lawrence venue, has been canceled, Lied Center officials announced Tuesday.

They learned Tuesday morning from the booking agent for the production’s American tour that the U.S. Consul in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, denied the opera’s visa applications.

It wasn’t immediately known whether escalating world tensions played a role in the denial, said Karen Christilles, associate director of the Lied Center. This is the first time in the concert hall’s 10-year history that a performance has been canceled because a visiting artist couldn’t get a visa, she said.

“It’s a much more complicated process since 9-11 to get visas. This has been a concern for the presenting field in general,” she said. “We have not had it affect our artists simply by luck, frankly.”

Ticket holders should receive notification of the cancellation by mail later this week. They will be able to receive a refund, exchange tickets for another event or make a tax-deductible gift to the Lied Center. The ticket office is closed this week for spring break but will reopen Monday.

Unlike opera that Western audiences are accustomed to viewing, Peking Opera combines music and traditional theater with carefully choreographed acrobatics in a show that’s nearly absent of stage set and instead concentrates on the symbolism of acting and the vibrancy of costumes and makeup.

“We are very disappointed with this news and that our community will not have the opportunity to witness this colorful event,” said Tim Van Leer, executive director of the Lied Center.

Cancellations are rare at the Lied Center, Christilles said. The last one occurred in 2001, when “Cookin’,” a Broadway-style production from South Korea, called off its U.S. tour because it couldn’t book enough dates.

“We try to be incredibly careful with what we book to try to lessen this type of situation,” Christilles said. “There are some things you can’t predict.”