Urbanites Troupe Enlivens ‘Etta Jenks’

The story line is as old as Hollywood, but the Neurotic Young Urbanites theater group creates a stylish noir world and gives energetically loathsome life to some of Marlane Meyer’s characters in “Etta Jenks” at the Court Theatre.

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Etta (Michelle Azar) is the Midwest girl, arriving at Union Station with a few bucks and a dream: to be a movie star. Expecting movie offers any minute, Etta--no blushing ingenue at the game of exploitation--quickly shacks up with a deaf guy (Paul Wittenburg) she meets at the station. She soon becomes a star, but in porno films. Newly christened as Lana, Etta later tries taxi dancing, turning tricks and finally working as a porno talent scout until she finds a certain kind of redemption.

David L.M. Mcintyre directs with good flow and mood, although Jason Killelea’s lighting design sometimes fails him. Azar is sultry, but Etta’s selective naivete (being in a few skin flicks won’t hurt her future as a legitimate actor) isn’t always believable, a problem intrinsic to the script. But, thankfully, Meyer doesn’t stoop to moralizing or easy-out happy endings.

Patrick Fischler oozes oily charm and smarminess as the man who lures Etta into the film industry’s ugly cousin, and Nick Sandler is a memorably scary good guy as the manic private eye with a motor mouth.

* “Etta Jenks,” Court Theatre, 722 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles. Tonight-Sunday, 8 p.m. Ends Sunday. $15. (213) 660-8587. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.