PHILADELPHIA -- The final week of winter vacation: a time for students, professors and administrators to relax, visit friends and family, and gear up for the coming semester.

But not for everyone.

Fifteen members of Penn State's musical theatre program took their show on the road in the final week of winter break to perform on a five-city tour with Penn State President and magician Graham Spanier.

Friday night's performance at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia was the third stop on the tour, sponsored by the Alumni Association, which began Jan. 4 in Hershey and continued the next day in Washington, D.C. The tour concluded with a performance Saturday in Allentown and yesterday in Wilkes-Barre. There were two shows in Philadelphia, each performed before 700-member audiences, said Roger Williams, executive director of the Alumni Association.

Spanier opened Friday's show by performing a series of magic tricks. He made a miniature red light appear from inside the ear of one of the performers, constructed a hat out of tissue paper and tied up two members of the audience with a rope of tissue paper that he magically produced from his mouth.

"Some of you know I'm a magician and, on the side, I run a university," he told the audience, which was made up mostly of alumni and their family members, as well as current and prospective students."

Spanier, who has been a performing magician his entire adult life, said his break has been fun and busy -- making appearances before the Orange Bowl, catching up on his movie-watching and traveling to do the performances. Although he was on the road last week, he said he was able to get some work done. "I've never really been off-duty," he said, pointing to his trusty BlackBerry, which allows him to send e-mail.

"In the couple of weeks since I've been in my office, I've kept on top of things," he said, adding that he attended university-related meetings while on the road and a dinner in each city for prospective donors to Penn State's academic programs. "We've done a fair amount of fundraising on this trip, and that's been very successful," he said.

Williams said the money raised from the performance would be used to defer expenses such as renting venues and to support Alumni Association programs, adding that members of the association were admitted free of charge because they pay dues to the association.

"These are not huge moneymakers," Williams said of the performances.

Williams said one of the most important objectives of the tour was to showcase the talent of Penn State students to the alumni. "Part of our mission is to connect Penn Staters to each other," Williams said. "You have to get out to where alumni live and work."

Following Spanier's magic tricks, the musical theatre students entertained the audience with Broadway songs, including "Raise the Roof" and "From This Moment On." Some performers sang solos in which they engaged the audience by walking up and down the aisles. "We've taken a great message about Penn State to several cities in Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., and have been warmly received in every venue," said performer Tommy Wehry (senior-musical theatre).

Cary Libkin, head of the musical theatre program, said his students had been preparing for the tour since the beginning of the semester.

Although the performers had to return for classes at the conclusion of the tour, performer Emily Peterson (senior-musical theatre) said they don't mind putting in the extra effort.

"I can't stand not being busy, because it's what I've always done," she said. "It's good practice for the real world and what we're going to be doing."

Spanier said his favorite part of being on tour over break was performing with students. "We have great students at Penn State," Spanier told the audience at the end of Friday's performance.