Stepping through a lavender-colored Roman arch and into a spotlight Saturday night, Tamara Baron's black evening gown swirled about her as she moved toward center stage. She began her song in a soft vibrato, but before long her voice boomed to fill all corners of Schwab Auditorium.

Baron (sophomore-film video) sang her way to $1,000 and the title of overall winner with a song from the Broadway musical Les Miserables at Penn State's first talent show, "Synergy '89 - A Class Act."

In its first year, "Synergy" was supported through funding from the Alumni Association and IBM.

"This is the start of a new Penn State tradition. The audience saw Penn State history being made," said Ernie Gayle, assistant executive director of the Alumni Association.

"The Varsity Quartet," also a singing act, took the first runner-up award of $500. Darryl Bundrige, (freshman-broadcast cable), Edwin Hammond (junior-theater), Frederick Irwin, (junior-broadcast cable), and Jeffrey Kemp (freshman-music education) comprised the quartet.

Deborah Damp, (freshman-theater) walked away with the second runner-up prize of $400 for her original interpretation of a scene from The King and I.

Other winners included stand-up comic Aaron Higgins (junior-electrical engineering), singer Will Goins (graduate-education), and stand-up comic Jill Reed (senior-speech communication). Each performer won $250.

The Alumni Association donated more than half the prize money, and IBM donated an additional $900 and a $3,000 computer door prize, won by Brian Burrell (senior-mechanical engineering). The Penn State Thespians made up the crew for the event and the Penn State Jazz Ensemble, led by Dan Yoder, played selections at the beginning, intermission and end of the show.

IBM became involved with "Synergy" through Grant Challenger (senior-speech communication), who works for a marketing strategy company, Creative Targets, Incorporated. Challenger said he and Miller worked together to get IBM to donate prizes.

Carol Whittaker, Thespian adviser, said she was pleased with the response of the 630 audience members.

The audience turnout was spectacular and their response was above and beyond what we expected, said William Miller, the producer and director for "Synergy."

"As soon as the show was 10 minutes into it, I was blown away by the audience response. I knew we had achieved success," said Miller.

The competitors weren't the only ones invoking audience support.

Master of Ceremonies, Tim Altmeyer (alumnus-class of 1988), used his own comic talent to entertain the audience throughout the show. He said he performed most of his act off-the-cuff. For the duration of the show he portrayed a fictional character named Mrs. Joanne Telmeyer and spoke in an exaggerated Pittsburgh dialect.

"I thought [the show] was fantastic, and it is proof of what Penn State students can do," he said.

Most of the winners are not newcomers to the field of live entertainment. Baron and Damp are both Thespians, the quartet's members belong to the Penn State Glee Club, and Higgins hosts a radio comedy show that airs Sunday nights on WPSU, 91.1-FM. Reed said she had never performed on stage.

"The closest I've come to experience, has been standing up and telling jokes at the Phyrst," she said.

A panel of five judges based their decisions on stage presence, technical skill, creativity, appearance, audience appeal and overall effectiveness, Miller said, adding that no experience was necessary to audition.

Judges included: Patricia Beatty, a radio personality for KDKA radio in Pittsburgh; Grace Hampton, University vice provost; James Hoskins, assistant professor of theater arts; James Moeser, dean of the College of Arts and Architecture; and Ruth Yeaton, president of the Penn State Thespians Board of Directors.