About Us
Who Are We?
Evolving Door Theatre Company is a New York City/Columbia, South Carolina based professional theatre company seeking to provide artist and community outreach and opportunity.
Our Mission
Evolving Door Theatre Company strives to broaden opportunities for both established and up-and-coming national and international artists by fostering connections through the production and development of high-caliber work.
Evolving Door specifically seeks and facilitates the creation of new and innovative performance and music projects. Our various programs create unique collaborative opportunities between theatrical and commercial music artists, through the development of genre-bending work across various performance and production platforms.
Our Team
Paolo Muccio,
Managing Director
Paolo Muccio is a New York City native, but has lived in South Carolina for the past 20 years. He has a B.A. in Drama/Film from Vassar College and an MBA in International Business from the University of Phoenix. Paolo previously led another charitable organization, the Dutch Fork High School Theatre Booster Club, for which he spearheaded an extensive fundraising campaign that significantly increased the budget for the program.
In addition to his work behind the scenes, Paolo has also performed in multiple plays, including Chapin Theatre Company’s production of Madagascar, and even a ballet. He has written several short plays, including one play that was performed as part of Muhlenberg College’s Berg Originals series, and another which received an honorable mention selection. Paolo has been passionate about the arts since he was very young and enjoys theatre, concerts, opera and film. He is excited to bring high quality art to a variety of communities as a part of the Evolving Door Theatre Company.
Jessica Fichter,
Artistic Director
Jess Fichter is a New York-based director, playwright, and teaching artist. She has had the opportunity to work in South Carolina, North Carolina, New Jersey, and New York City in varying capacities. Originally from Columbia, SC, Jessica is a SDC associate member who has worked at Flat Rock Playhouse, The Edge Theatre, The Connelly Theater, Feinstein's/54Below, and Chapin Theatre Company as a teaching artist and director, and served as the Artistic Director for Chapin Theatre Company before moving to NYC. She is the founder/artistic director of the New York-based Evolving Door Theatre Company. She holds an MFA in directing from the Actors Studio Drama School, a B.A. in theatre education from Winthrop University, and an M.Ed. in Divergent Learning from Columbia College. Recent directing credits include: Dandelion: A New Musical (Feinstein's/54 Below new musical series), Shadows: A Dance Musical (AD to Tony Award Nominee, Joey McNeely), The Eleventh Hour (Townstages, Smugbug), If Women Rose Rooted (The Tank), Universe Without Him (Co-Lab), 1MPF (Mile Square), Road to Nirvana (ASDS), The Hallelujah Girls (CTC). She has published a YA novel, entitled Yellow Bird, which can be purchased on Amazon.
As a director, Jess is committed to text-based discovery and exploration. She believes that theatre is at its best when strong collaboration is present between the director, actors, designers, and production team. In the rehearsal room, she works to create an environment where the actor is free to play and contribute to the process. She enjoys collaborating with playwrights/composers on new works in both directorial and dramaturgical capacities. Jess views theatrical directing at its core as an art form of creative problem solving.
Randall David Cook, Literary Manager
Randall David Cook is a New York-based playwright who originally hails from South Carolina. His play The Monument, created with Drama League nominee Cheryl L. Davis and Gwynn MacDonald, has been selected for the 2021 Orchard Project. Off-Broadway: Sake with the Haiku Geisha ("Witty, Observant", New York Times), Fate's Imagination ("Entertaining... Tasty plot twists and some very funny lines", New York Times). Additional NYC: Shadows, a dance musical co-created with Tony-nominated director choreographer Joey McKneely that was nominated for two 2019 New York Innovative Theatre Awards; and Toto Talks (2019 Frigid Festival). Regional: Southern Discomfort; Third Finger, Left Hand; Pomp & Circumstance; Kappa Kappa Scream. Works-in development/Readings include an adaptation of Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman (New York Theatre Workshop with Tony-winner Len Cariou and Drama Desk-winners Roberta Maxwell and Laura Esterman); In A Town Near Faith (Players Club with Academy Award-nominee Barbara Barrie); and Hanky Panky (Davenport Theatre with Tony-nominee Veanne Cox). His one-act play Sushi and Scones was broadcast by the BBC and won the award for Best Play at the Southeastern Playwrights Conference, and his play Sharks and Other Lovers won the 2019 Best Play Award at Centre Stage’s New Play Festival.
He holds a BA from Furman University, an IMBA from the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, and is currently studying for his MFA in Playwriting and Screenwriting at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Member, Dramatists Guild. Three-time Duke Endowment recipient and Furman Playwright-in-Residence, Commissions from British Film Institute and Broadway Across America, 2017 Honorary Inductee into Omicron Delta Kappa national leadership society, 2016 Inductee into the South Carolina Theatre Hall of Fame.