On April 14, a sold out crowd gathered in Doorley Auditorium, eagerly waiting to enter the theater that was transformed into a nineteenth century manor house. It was the opening night of “Miss Julie,” performed by Iona’s Department of Fine and Performing Arts and The Iona College Theatre Ensemble.

The play, penned by Swedish playwright Johan August Stringberg, was performed four times, by two alternating casts, from April 14-17.

Each cast consisted of three actors. Characters Miss Julie, Jean and Kristine were played, respectively, by Maureen McNulty, Pat McLaughlin and Francesca DiPaola on April 14 and 16, and by Kim Dowd, Brian Sears and Gabrielle Farah on April 15 and 17.

Director and producer Thomas Donnarumma stated that the goal of the department is to give the audience “an exciting, educational theatre experience.” This goal was largely achieved through the talented and diverse students involved, who ranged from freshmen to graduating seniors.

DiPaola is a freshman who made her debut with the Department of Fine and Performing Arts and The Iona College Theatre Ensemble. Even though she has been acting since she was seven years old, DiPaola never expected to land such a big role as a freshman. She said that she usually performs in large musicals, so acting in a three person non-musical was challenging but also a great learning experience.

“I loved opening night,” she said. “There were people standing and sitting on the floor. It was great to see how supportive everyone was, and it gave me an awesome adrenaline rush that lasted the entire weekend.”

Junior Farah also made her debut with the Department of Fine and Performing Arts and The Iona College Theatre Ensemble. However, she states that she is “no stranger to Doorley Auditorium,” as she performed with the Iona Players for the past three years.

Her acting career extends outside of Doorley’s walls, as last summer she served as an extra in the upcoming film “Detachment.” She will continue acting at Iona next year during her senior year.

Conversely, senior Dowd’s Iona College acting career came to a close with “Miss Julie.”

“This was my sixth performance for the Department of Fine and Performing Arts, and I’ve had to tackle a lot of challenging material, but this one seemed to be perhaps the most challenging because of the complexity of Miss Julie’s character…Since the play is set in the 1800’s, it was also extremely difficult to relate my life to hers,” she said.

However, she added that being in a small cast helped her to develop her character because she was able to receive the appropriate amount of attention from the director.

Dowd’s favorite part of participating in “Miss Julie” was her fellow cast mates. “It was a pleasure working with everyone because they are all a very talented group of students and very easy to get along with,” she said.

Senior McLaughlin also made his last ever appearance on the Iona College stage. He has been in myriad of productions during his four years at Iona, and he also serves as president of the Iona Players.

Playing the serious role of Jean was different for McLaughlin, who has always played comedic roles at Iona.

He said that his favorite part of performing in “Miss Julie” was “the experience of expanding my acting horizons and going out of my comfort zone…and taking on a role that allows me to play a more serious character. It has given me the ability to show people my range of acting.”

McLaughlin is graduating from Iona in May with an Education Degree but plans to move to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. He said that what he’ll miss most about acting at Iona is the close interaction he felt with the audience, as well as his fellow actors.

Sophomore Sears took on the same challenge that McLaughlin faced – breaking out of his comedic comfort zone to play a more dramatic role. He recently played funny man Robbie Hart in Iona’s production of “The Wedding Singer.”

“It was difficult to transition from one role to the other, but the experience was extremely valuable,” he said.

He added that performing with such a small cast can bring a lot of pressure at times. Despite the stress, he managed to have a lot of laughs with the cast.

“My favorite memory is Pat walking into the wall at the end of the first show when the lights went out…priceless,” he said.

Junior McNulty is a veteran with the Department of Fine and Performing Arts and The Iona College Theatre Ensemble, with past performances including “reasons to be pretty” and “No Exit.”

McNulty loves acting and being on stage, and she even serves as vice president of the Iona Players. She enjoyed playing the role of Miss Julie and is thankful to “Professor Donnarumma and the entire cast for doing such a fabulous job on the production.”

The next performance by the Department of Fine and Performing Arts and The Iona College Theatre Ensemble will be “The Beauty Queen of Leenane” by Martin McDonagh, this upcoming fall.