Precious Developments, Inc.

01/11/2026

Every. Single. Point. This hits home and describes EXACTLY how I feel about the amazing work I get to do! This June will make a FULL 10 YEARS since I did the scary thing and start up Precious Developments, Inc. 2026 is bringing new adventures in our little corner, so stay tuned…..

You don’t “find your calling,” you fight for it — and other lessons from people who found their passion (sometimes late in life).

05/31/2025

I kinda did a cool thing today training the amazing humans that work their tails off at summer camp with Children's Theatre of Charlotte. I’ve had the honor of walking alongside them for the last 10 years (!!!!), and I decided to take a hard left and do a totally different kind of training today. They took it and ran - not only was it perfect, but they made it even better by making it as authentic an experience for themselves and each other as possible. Not to mention, I laughed so much at the whole thing unfolding, but it all counted toward helping them figure out the best way to support EVERYONE in their space, including each other. Dang, I do love these humans….

12/09/2024

Wanna know what kindness and compassion looks like when you come to a Sensory-Friendly Performance at Children's Theatre of Charlotte? It’s not about what I do in that space, it’s all about the village. Yesterday was the annual performance of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical, and one of our beautiful humans was having a hard time. They were feeling escalated for a little bit, but they were able to work through it and get to the other side relatively quickly in the grand scheme of things. Overheard somewhere else in the house:

Kiddo: Why are they (fill in observable tough moment)
Caregiver: Well, they’re having a hard time. Know how you feel when (fill in struggle context)?
Kiddo: Yeah
Caregiver: It’s like that for them.
Kiddo: Oooh

Enter kindness and compassion, enter amazing teaching opportunity to help each other relate to someone else’s experience, enter the best version of humanity, and no one had to leave the theatre. No one was asked to leave, and no one asked to make them leave. There were some glances, but those glances weren’t judgy side eye. Those glances were concern, they were brief, and we all moved on safely. What a wonderful concept.

Kindness costs nothing, and it was more than palpable in that room yesterday. It is so extremely rare that this happens, or anything for that matter, and in all 9 years of working alongside this beautiful organization, I’ve never had to ask anyone to leave. This village takes such good care of each other and is so very quick to offer grace and understanding. People deserve to be exactly who they need to be, and so often, working through a struggle moment means they can figure out what they need next time around without having to struggle so much. That’s why I’m so in love with everything I get to do there.

10/14/2024

Saturday was the first Sensory-Friendly Performance of the season at Children's Theatre of Charlotte - SCHOOL OF ROCK THE MUSICAL! And yes, we totally made it sensory friendly! We got to watch 7 children build a friendship as they walked around the theatre together and listen to the audience LAUGH, like really laugh, during the show. Thank you, families, for trusting us with your beautiful humans! And thank you Autism Strong Foundation for sponsoring the tickets to these performances and making live theatre more accessible to our community! Finally, thank you to my family, who as been there to support this work since we started in the 2016-2017 season - Precious Developments, Inc. literally couldn’t do it without you!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

04/02/2024

If you want to see a space where everyone works hard to prepare for anyone and everyone who may spend time in their space, Children's Theatre of Charlotte is the place to be! This partnership has grown me and my family alongside it, and there is more amazing work to be done together!!

03/23/2024

I got to do a very cool thing today. I got to go to Seattle and present with a panel at USITT to talk about inclusion and accessibility to live theatre through the lens of a lighting designer!!!! Let me just tell you, this was an amazing experience, and the humans I worked with and that showed up in that room were spectacular!! I’m so incredibly grateful that I could go, and I hope to hear from some of those folks and find out how they decide to try some stuff out. I couldn’t have done this without my partnership withChildren's Theatre of Charlotte - they’ve been the place where I could learn and grow and support our community in a whole new way.

04/17/2023

Ah, the last Sensory Friendly Performance of the season at Children's Theatre of Charlotte was nothing short of spectacular! It never ceases to amaze me how well everyone cares for our community as a whole, and especially how they work so hard to support these audiences. Amazing things happen in this space at every single show, and today was no different. From the all-in audience, to the tiny human who asked every character “Are you ok?” throughout the show (and also talked to me during the whole curtain speech as I oriented the audience to our space 😂❤️), to the carefree use of the house so they could be exactly who they needed to be, this is truly my happy place. These families bring me such joy, and getting to see families growing up in this through the years is an absolute honor.

11/04/2021

It has been almost 22 months since I’ve posted here because, well, I’ve been a little scared to. I’ve been scared for the world, and I’ve been scared that the world I got to create for me and my family was a thing of the past. Then, last month, this happened. I got to be back in my happy place with Children's Theatre of Charlotte, doing the thing I absolutely love to do - help support a wonderful organization as it continues to intentionally invite everyone into its space to enjoy the arts! Thank you, Perry Tannenbaum and Queen City Nerve, for such a beautiful reminder of all the world still has to offer, even if it looks a little different now. ❤️

Children's Theatre of Charlotte offers toned-down, sensory-friendly versions of productions for kids sensitive to environmental stimulants.

01/12/2020

Guess what? Today was our first SOLD OUT Sensory-Friendly Performance at Children's Theatre of Charlotte!! To make sure we can serve these audiences the best way we can and give them the space and flexibility they may need, we decided at the start of this project in 2016 to cap the audience size to about a third of the full house capacity. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs was a huge hit and our first sellout!!! What does that mean? It means you better get out there and get your tickets since there are only three more Sensory-Friendly Performances this season!!!

Accessibility - Sensory Friendly Performances

11/17/2019

The thing about going to an awesome conference with folks like Seesaw Theatre is that now I wanna go to all the places!! Pittsburg, New York, back here to Chicago.....oh dear....

11/17/2019

What a beautiful and peaceful morning it is at Northwestern University! It’s so weird to hear the waves of Lake Michigan that sound like the beach, but there’s snow on the ground! It’s just what this girl needed to think a little and get ready for the second half of the Inclusive Theatre Festival with my new friends at Seesaw Theatre!