Making Porn, Ronnie Larsen’s popular stage comedy set in the gay porn industry in San Francisco during the 1980s, has been playing to packed houses at Empire Stage, 1140 N. Flagler, in Fort Lauderdale. The production is so successful that it has been extended until March 23, 2014.

The story of three porn-stars – the seasoned Ray (Empire Stage Executive Director David R. Gordon), the enthusiastic Ricky (Ryan Mahannah) and the reluctant (and straight) Jack (Craig Moody) – as well as the men behind the scenes (director Keith Dougherty as Arthur and Larry Buzzeo as Jaime), Making Porn is alternately hilarious and hot (especially when Jack is in various states of undress). As it turns out, some of the best comedy occurs when the sole female character, Jack’s seemingly naïve wife Linda (Jennifer Zabalo) appears onstage. Her transformation alone is worth the price of admission.

Florida Agenda: David, you divide your time between NYC and Fort Lauderdale. How does that work out?

David R. Gordon: The most difficult part about dividing my time between New York and Florida is probably being away from my wife and my dog for extended periods of time. The other difficult part about it is the housing situation, because I don’t own my own place down here.

What was the impetus for founding Empire Stage in Fort Lauderdale?

It all started back in the `90s and 2000′s. I was working in New York with a husband and wife team, Kevin Thompson and Garet Scott. She was a playwright and he was a director. Actually, now what they do is produce audio books. Back then they were producing theater in New York; very funny comedies. She was writing plays and I was playing the lead in most of her plays that she wrote. Some of the shows were Bongo Fever, A Town Called Shame, Down Down Down 30 Seconds to Hell, and they were a lot of fun. We got to know each other very well. She wrote a play called Roll With The Punches which was produced twice in New York. I I suggested we take the show to Fort Lauderdale. I’d find a theater, we’ll bring the cast down and have a good time for a couple weeks there. We ended up producing the play back in 2009 at the old Rising Action Theater on Oakland Park Boulevard.

How long have you been an actor and what are some of the favorite roles you have played?

I have been an actor for roughly 25 years. I have done lots of theater, lots of TV commercials, some soap operas and even some film. Some of my favorite roles include, Judd in Oklahoma, Frank in Body Awareness, Chance Cox in Bongo Fever, and I am also really enjoying playing the role of Ray Tanner in Making Porn.

I’m glad you mentioned Making Porn, a play in which you have performed in the past, and in which you presently appear. Please say something about the play, your connection to it and why you have remounted it, so to speak.

Making Porn is a play that I have performed in many times over the past 20 years. When I originally got involved with Making Porn I was playing the role of Jack Hawk, now I am playing the role of Ray Tanner. Making Porn is the first play that I chose to produce at Empire Stage four years ago. It was actually five years ago that I purchased the rights to Making Porn for the entire South Florida area from the playwright Ronnie Larsen for a term of 5 years. This term is up in April of this year. This is the reason why I decided to remount the play.

As one might expect, Making Porn “contains male nudity” as the poster and program state. What’s it like for you to appear naked onstage?

Like most things in life, it is something that you get used to the more you do it. I remember back in 1996 when I was first doing Making Porn, I was so nervous about knowing my lines that the nudity wasn’t even a concern.

Is it difficult to find actors who are willing to appear naked onstage?

It is not difficult to find actors who are willing to appear naked on stage, but it is difficult to find good actors who are willing to appear naked on stage.

The play also features simulations of gay sex, something that, depending on the part, can be an aspect of an actor’s job. In a show such as Making Porn, do you think it matters if the actors are gay or straight?

I don’t think it matters at all whether an actor is gay or straight as long as the actor is believable in his role. I am a straight married man, but I am also an actor. So, sometimes I choose to play roles and portray people on stage who are very different from who I am in real life, such as Ray Tanner in Making Porn. The trick is to make the audience believe that you are actually that person who you are portraying on stage. As long as you are able to do that it doesn’t really matter who you are in real life.

Making Porn is, first and foremost, a comedy. But it also takes a serious turn, due to the time period in which it is set (the mid-1980s), and deals with the subject of AIDS. With HBO’s production of “The Normal Heart” set to premiere this spring, how effective do you think theater and film and other mediums are at remind audiences that the AIDS crisis is far from over?

I don’t know much about HBO’s “The Normal Heart.” But one thing I do know is that it seems that society doesn’t really take the AIDS crisis as seriously as it did back in the 1980s and 1990s. You would almost think that AIDS has been cured, but as we all know it has not and should still be taken very seriously.

Making Porn has been playing to sold-out houses and has been extended through March 23. What does that mean to you?

Making Porn has been playing to sold-out houses for four weeks now. I am very grateful for the support that this production has received from the local community. One thing that it tells me is that there is still, and probably always will be, a market for this type of show.

Have you started thinking about what the next Empire Stage production will be?

I am fortunate enough over the past few years to have become friends with performer and playwright Jamie Morris. Jamie is the writer of plays such as Mommie Queerest, The Facts Of Life: The Lost Episode, and The Silence Of The Clams. All three of these hilarious plays have been produced by Empire stage over the past three years. I am happy to announce that our next Empire Stage production will be Jamie’s latest masterpiece, Redesigning Women, this summer.

Making Porn is showing until March 23rd. For tickets and more information, visit empirestage.com