The seats at Schwab Auditorium fill up every year for Synergy, the student talent show that has become a tradition at Penn State. At 8 p.m. tomorrow, 14 students will take the Schwab stage, showcasing talents that range from a juggling act on unicycles to a hip-hop routine to an Irish jig.

For the student performers, motivation for entering the show could have sprouted from countless seeds — one of those might be the enticing $2,000 in cash prizes offered to contestants.

Cash prizes, however, aren't a factor for those involved behind the curtains.

For 20 years, Carol Whittaker was an adviser for the Penn State Thespians, the Penn State club that hosts Synergy. Although her years as adviser have come to an end, perhaps it was this role that naturally prepared her for a position as producer of Synergy, a position which she says allows her to interact with students.

Whittaker can remember a time when Synergy wasn't a tradition, only an idea in the minds of alumni.

"The Alumni Association was searching for a way to give back to the students of Penn State," Whittaker said.

Out of this desire, Synergy was born, and in 1989, a tradition took root.

"Originally, the show was a way to foster class identity," said Whittaker. Class titles, she said, were more relevant during the inception of Synergy.

For the first three years of Synergy, only three representatives from each class — freshman, sophomore, junior and senior — were allowed to perform in the show. But soon, those involved in production realized the limitations of such a rigid system.

"Now, students really don't identify themselves by those titles of freshman or junior. Students identify themselves more by semester or term, and sometimes it takes more than four years for students to graduate," Whittaker said.

"We decided that it just wasn't the best approach. We were limiting ourselves and we weren't getting the best performers. Ever since then we take the top 14 acts," said Whittaker.

Although the rules of Synergy have changed, what the show stands for, in Whittaker's eyes, remains the same.

"Synergy means different groups working together. It really fits us. The alumni, the thespians and the students all work together to put on this event," Whittaker said.

As both a member of the Thespians and a returning adult student, Edna Immel (freshman-integrative arts) director of Synergy, represents two out of the three groups that bring Synergy to Schwab each year.

Immel does a juggling act of her own, balancing her role as a student with the demands of directing Synergy.

"I think now that I am a student I realize how flexible we need to be. It is hard to balance school, social activities, and work. Luckily this weekend, when auditions took place, I didn't have any homework," Immel said.

For Immel, the most rewarding part of directing Synergy is working with student performers.

"How much work I need to do depends on the acts coming in, but hopefully I can work with the students, boosting confidence or offering advice," Immel said.

Before Immel can work with the performers, they must be chosen. This task falls in the hands of the preliminary judges, who narrow down the applicants to a chosen few. This year, 40 students applied. Only 14 were picked to perform on Saturday.

Lea Asbell-Swanger, assistant director of the Center for Performing Arts, has been judging the preliminary rounds for longer than she can remember, but each year, she searches the crowds for something new and fresh.

Those auditioning are judged on a numeric scale. Asbell-Swanger, along with nine other judges from a range of occupations, records scores on individual pieces of paper. Later, the scores are tallied to determine who will compete in the show.

"It's nice seeing firsthand the wide range of talent at Penn State," Asbell-Swanger said. "Synergy is not your typical talent show, it's not just people who sing and dance -- it's a wide range of performing arts and samples of different cultures."

Other performers, she added, simply draw on quirky talents retained from childhood, but most, she said, never imagined themselves soaking up the spotlight.