LGBTQ ties abound in comedy ‘Clark Gable Slept Here’

A naked — and dead — male prostitute drives the action in the new play “Clark Gable Slept Here,” which just opened at ART Station in Stone Mountain.

A fairly new play that made its debut at Zoetic Stage in Miami in 2014 and is making its Georgia premiere, it’s directed by Paul Conroy, who also serves as the artistic director at Out Front Theatre Company, the city’s LGBTQ theater company. On the night of the Golden Globe Awards, the corpse of a male prostitute is found in the hotel room of a closeted action film megastar — himself nominated for an award that night for a rare drama outing. Super agent Jarrod “Hilly” Hillard is called in to address the problem and save the day, with the help of fixer Morgan Wright. Rounding out the characters are a hotel maid and the hotel manager.

At least two of the characters — the male prostitute and the closeted actor — are gay. (The actor is never seen but his voice is heard at the awards ceremony.) The play is written by openly gay playwright Michael McKeever, who was in the original production as the hotel manager.

Having previously directed a co-production version of “Buyer and Cellar” — which also contains a gay character — last season at ART Station, Conroy was also asked to direct this. He sees it as a multi-layered show.

“There is definitely a comedic bent in it with some of the situations,” he said. “Everything is not as it should be. It’s not a farce, though, in the classical sense, with multiple doors and people in disguise.”

The cast includes openly gay actor Ben Thorpe, playing the hotel manager.

“He is a little neurotic and has a lot on his plate, dealing with an issue he doesn’t want to deal with,” Thorpe said.

Thorpe finds the show very topical, with its closeted superstar.

“It’s a comment on how Hollywood treats gay actors and the closet,” he said. “It has a lot to say about how we can lift up certain people, and their sexuality can’t be talked about — and the lengths people will go to cover it up.”

Jessica McGuire, who is also out, plays