Say 'Aloha' to ... Recent Jeff Award Winner(!) Cat Wilson

Full given name: Catherine Wilson (I go by Cat)

Where you were born/where you were raised? Seattle, WA

Your role within the Aloha, Say the Pretty Girls family: Lighting Designer

What do you do? I create the mood of the show, edit the other design aspects to create different feelings during the show, and tell the audience how to feel about what is happening on stage. I am basically the psychology of the show.

Something you're REALLY bad at: Tennis

Special hidden talent: I taught windsurfing for 10 years in Seattle.

Current local show you have been recommending to friends: Aloha, Say the Pretty Girls!!!

Favorite Chicago neighborhood: Any neighborhood with a good local coffee shop.

Favorite play: M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang. It's a play I really want to design.

Your personal idols: My maternal grandfather. I never got to meet him, but he used to say "Success is finding out what you love to do, and then finding a way to get paid to do it." That has stuck with me my whole life, and I find it a great way to enjoy each day.

Most played song on your iPod: I actually don't know... I'm a Pandora gal.

Who would play you in the Lifetime movie about your life: That's a tough one... Someone once told me I look like Renee Zellweger, but I really don't think so at all.

Must-see TV show(s): I'm not a huge TV watcher, but my friends have recently introduced me to Dr. Who. I also love any show about design whether it is fashion related, interior design, or any other creative show.

Three things you can't live without: A supportive group of friends who will deal with me when I'm tired and stressed during tech, coffee (good coffee... I'm from Seattle so I get to be a bit of a coffee snob), and a cat in my life.

"I'll never understand why…": ...life can't be more like a musical.

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Cat recently won a 2013 Non-Equity Jeff Award for the Den Theatre's production of City of Dreadful Night. Come see Cat's lighting design in The Brown Paper Box Co.'s production of Naomi Iizuka's Aloha, Say the Pretty Girls at the Heartland Studio in Rogers Park, now through - June 16, 2013.  Please visit www.brownpaperbox.org for tickets and additional information.