Interview: Kyle Yampiro Brings a Fresh Professor Plum to Clue at Old National Centre
Interview: Kyle Yampiro explores the unique challenges of portraying Professor Plum in CLUE at Old National Centre.
The mystery, the mayhem, and the madness of Clue continue to delight audiences across the country, and at the center of it all is Professor Plum, played with wit and originality by Kyle Yampiro. We caught up with Yampiro to talk about stepping into such an iconic role, the fast-paced nature of the show, and what keeps audiences coming back for more.
Professor Plum is such a deliciously eccentric character. How do you approach bringing your own spin to a role that audiences may already recognize from the film or board game?
“Eccentric is a really nice word to describe Professor Plum,” Yampiro says. While audiences may recall the character from the classic film portrayal by Christopher Lloyd or the beloved board game, Yampiro is intentional about carving out his own version.
“I’m not about to be a carbon copy… but the blueprint is there,” he explains. “What I can bring is my acting and life experience—whatever academic and curmudgeon I’ve got.”
That academic angle isn’t just for show. “I went to school for a decade,” he notes, referencing his extensive educational background. Ultimately, the character clicked for him almost immediately. “The essence of the character really jumped off the page. I kind of just got who he was.”
Clue moves at a lightning-fast pace with comedy, physicality, and timing all working together. What has been the most challenging part of keeping up that momentum on stage?
For Yampiro, the challenge wasn’t just speed; it was controlling it.
“Once we kind of got the groove in rehearsals, we had the frenetic pace down,” he says. “We were so hyped… we almost got too fast.”
Now, more than six months into touring, the show has found its rhythm. “It’s really grooving now. The dialogue reads like music. It’s such a tapestry of lines.”
He also points to the show’s linguistic charm as a key driver of its pace and humor. “The wordplay elements… it hearkens back to golden age and pre-golden age musical theatre. It just strikes a chord with the silly, quirky nature of the English language.”
The show leans heavily into farce and ensemble work. How does the cast build the chemistry needed to make the humor land so effectively night after night?
Chemistry, Yampiro says, was baked in from the beginning.
“We built it brilliantly in rehearsals,” he shares, crediting the production’s leadership for setting the tone. “There wasn’t a day that we weren’t belly laughing about something.”
That genuine enjoyment translates directly to the stage. “The key part is that we all really like the show,” he adds. “There’s a collective responsibility to maintain what we’ve built.”
Touring with Clue as part of Broadway Across America brings you to a wide range of cities. How has performing for different audiences shaped your experience in the role?
No two audiences are the same, and that’s part of the thrill.
“Every city has a very different take on the show,” Yampiro explains. “Different theatre-going communities respond in different ways.”
While the cast stays consistent in their performances, there’s always an element of surprise. “If we’re hitting our marks, then things land, but there are always surprises about what lands and what doesn’t. It even varies from one day to the next.”
What do you think makes Clue such an enduring story, and why do you think audiences continue to be drawn to this world of mystery and comedy?
Part of Clue’s magic lies in its versatility.
“Everybody’s got a different way into Clue,” Yampiro says. “The IP is everywhere in different versions.”
Whether audiences grew up playing the board game, watching the film, or are experiencing the story for the first time, there’s something for everyone. “There’s so much that you can draw off of,” he explains. “And even if you don’t have that connection, it’s still a very funny show.”
Fans of the original material will also appreciate the details. “There are such nods to the avenues of the game,” he adds.
Is there anything else audiences should know before seeing the show?
Without giving too much away, Yampiro teases the show’s clever balance of tone and storytelling.
“It is the same show every night,” he says, “but it will tickle the nostalgia, and it really does play homage to the movie.”
At its core, Clue is a story full of morally questionable characters. “They’re all villains in a way,” he says. “Every character has done something bad.”
But despite its murderous premise, the show never loses its sense of fun. “It’s a play about murder,” Yampiro says, “but a play about lightness.”
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