Closed Nude Dance Club Plans X-Rated Fund-Raisers : Northridge: A spokesman says the events will help pay legal bills and let the establishment fight back. Police are not sure they would be lawful.

Extasy, a Northridge nude dance club forced to shut down by a court order, announced plans late Friday to host three nights of X-rated fund-raisers to foot its legal bills and to rally support.

“This is our way of fighting back,” club spokesman Steve Gamer said. “Extasy is determined to protect the right of citizens to their choice of entertainment.”

It was not immediately clear if authorities would allow the fund-raisers, which promise “autograph sessions with X-rated film starlets” and “naughty-but-not-nude dancing.” The events are scheduled for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from noon until 2 a.m.

“That may or may not be illegal. We have to review this, and seek the advice of the city attorney,” Los Angeles Police Sgt. Brad Kubela said.

Representatives of the city attorney’s office, which sought the order to stop the nude dancing, could not be reached for comment Friday night.

The Extasy, on Corbin Avenue at Nordhoff Street, opened Jan. 19 amid controversy over its zoning permit. It was the target of neighborhood groups’ protests that led to the city’s effort to close the club.

Owners maintain that Extasy has the proper zoning for nude entertainment. But Extasy’s attorney advised them to shut down to avoid antagonizing the judge hearing the case.

On Jan. 24, Superior Court Judge Robert O’Brien ordered the club to stop offering nude or striptease dancing until a Feb. 19 hearing in Van Nuys Municipal Court on the club’s zoning status. A separate hearing on whether to continue the temporary restraining order is scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday before O’Brien in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The judge’s order does not require the club to shut its doors, only to stop offering nude dancing, city attorney’s spokesman Ted Goldstein has said. If the owners violate the order, they could be held in contempt of court, Goldstein said.

But the owners maintain that other forms of adult entertainment may be legal even under the court order. The owners have a valid permit to offer lounge or cabaret entertainment or opera, Goldstein said.

In the past, the owners have discussed offering a nude opera at Extasy, but Gamer declined to discuss that possibility Friday night. “I can’t give more detailed information because I don’t want to tip off our defense,” he said. “It’s going to be a surprise.”