MANSFIELD, Ohio—Kathy Vrooman noticed her daughter Kelly had a knack for performing even at a young age.
“She could memorize entire plays in just a short amount of time…she’s always just dazzled me,” Kathy said.
And now Kelly, a Mansfield native and Mansfield Christian School graduate of 2000, is dazzling much larger audiences across the nation as her acting career progresses.
While performing with a theatre company in Philadelphia, she received a call to audition for the TV network, Sprout, which cast her for the first live national program for preschoolers, “The Sunny Side Up Show.” She went on to puppeteer and voice the characters of Patty and Stage Mice on “The Sprout Sharing Show” and later starred alongside Chica the Chicken on “The Chica Show” on Sprout and NBC.
“Then one year ago she moved to LA and has been working at improv, standup comedy, teaching, and taking classes in order to pursue her passion of acting,” Kathy shared.
Though she’s living a couple thousand miles from her hometown, Kelly said she’s proud to call Mansfield her home and always enjoys visiting.
She recently starred in a Bounty paper towel commercial. Kathy said her first commercial was for LA Weight Loss.
With every opportunity that has come Kelly’s way, she’s strived to perform to the best of her ability, Kathy said—from performances at the Renaissance Theatre, to the Mansfield Playhouse, Mansfield Christian School, and Malone University (where she earned a bachelor’s in communication arts).
“Kelly has a way that when she reads a script, she lives that script. People in the past have likened her to Lucille Ball with her funny little antics and facial expressions. Kelly thought that was one of the highest compliments that she ever got,” Kathy said.
In addition to starring on the show, she’s also a writer for “The Chica Show” and spent three years as a joke writer and host for “24-7 Comedy Radio.” She’s also an experienced improviser, as well as the co-creator and director of the improvised puppet show for grown-ups, “Friends of Alcatraz.”
While Kelly’s success is enough to make any mother proud, Kathy is especially proud of her daughter for remaining grounded in her faith. “She wants to glorify God in her talent and won’t lower her standards just to make money,” she said.
