ME, MYSELF & BARBRA: The Music That Made Barbara, Barbra Comes to New Village Arts This Month

 Jenna Pastuszek and Joshua Zecher-Ross will make their Carlsbad debuts bringing ME, MYSELF & BARBRA: The Music that Made Barbara Barbra, to New Village Arts May 16-17, 2024.

Ever wonder what might happen if you stop waiting for permission and start believing in yourself? Just ask Barbra Streisand. At 21, Babs spent her evenings singing in NYC’s hottest cabaret clubs dressed up in funky thrift store finds. At 21, acclaimed performer Jenna Pastuszek spent hers serving mini kosher hot dogs at bar mitzvahs sporting a patterned bow tie. Until she met Barbra, and everything changed. Learn how Barbra’s self-confidence, power, and unique panache inspired a young performer to get out of her own way and embrace her kooky self, weird last name and all. 

Join creator/star Jenna Pastuszek and music director, Broadway’s Joshua Zecher-Ross, in this intimate tribute to a trailblazing young Barbra. With “lavishly clever arrangements”, and “witty, endearing personal stories”, the evening features music sung between 1959-1965 that turned her into the icon we know and love today. 

After a wildly successful solo show debut tour of GET HAPPY!: An Evening Celebrating the World’s Greatest Entertainer, Judy Garland, in 2020 & 2021, including a stop at CCAE Theatrical’s Cabaret in the Courtyard series for which Pastuszek was nominated for a BroadwayWorld San Diego Best Cabaret Award, Pastuszek and Zecher-Ross teamed up again in 2022 to create another tribute, this time to Barbra Streisand, now part of a series they’re calling “The Original American Idols”. They debuted the show as part of Paper Mill Playhouse’s Brookside Cabaret series, and then brought a lavish and exciting 6-piece band version of the concert to Manhattan’s Green Room 42 in December, 2022. 

As an undergraduate history major at The University of Virginia, putting together both ME, MYSELF & BARBRA and GET HAPPY! have felt like full-circle moments for Pastuszek. “Whenever I sit down to research a performer I admire, I learn so much about myself. I may be singing songs and telling stories of women moving through the world sixty years ago, but so much of what they were facing then is, unfortunately, still present today. What a gift to be able to explore my own history with such a beautiful score behind me.” 

As a recent LA transplant, Pastuszek is thrilled to bring this show back home for Barbra. Despite growing up in Brooklyn, Streisand maintains a full time residence in Malibu. “Like Barbra, I spent the beginning of my career pounding the pavement in NYC. Now, I’m happy to call California home. It’s common folklore that Barbra is still on the search for a good eggroll in LA. Me? I’m still searching for a good bagel (if you have any recs please send).”

Barbra’s long anticipated memoir, My Name is Barbra, was released in November, 2023. This will be Pastuszek’s first time performing the show since reading the book. “For Barbra fans and people brand new to Barbra, this show will introduce you to facts (and songs!) about the beloved singer that you may not have previously known.”

Broadwayworld called the show “a divine musical evening” and quotes Jenna as having “the musical chops to sing the songs in the way that they were meant to be sung.” Mark S. Hoebee, Artistic Director of Paper Mill Playhouse and the Brookside Cabaret series, said, “Jenna is an incredible singer with a facile voice perfectly suited to Me, Myself and Barbra.” He thought “the combination of some of Barbra Streisand’s greatest hits with some hidden gems from her early years was so satisfying” and was “impressed with the research that Jenna brought forth to weave a lovely and very funny narrative through the songs.” Chris Alleman, Artistic Director of Theatre SilCo, said the show featured “a cleverly curated playlist with definite crowd pleasers but some lesser known songs with really lovely arrangements.” He said Jenna “enraptured the audience with her sincerity while delivering laughter, fun facts, and intricately woven personal anecdotes that really grounded her performance.” Matt Silva, Artistic Director of Delaware Theatre Company, called Jenna “a ray of sunshine” with “a powerhouse voice”. 

Additional recent performances of ME, MYSELF & BARBRA include The Overture Center, 54 Below at Vitello’s, and the Willow Theatre. Upcoming performances include Swallow Hill Summer Concerts, the Opera House, , and Little Theatre of Manchester in Connecticut. 

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