Review: Jenna Pastuszek Belts Streisand's Hits at The Yale Club Of NYC

With a show titled Me, Myself & Barbra, this reviewer didn’t know what to expect: a Barbra Streisand impersonation, or just the songs of the famous songstress herself?  How surprising it was that sonorous singer, Jenna Pastuszek, instead took the audience on a personal journey into the not so distant past of the early 1960’s.  For it was then that a very young Barbra Streisand put out her first record albums and set the world on its ear with her vocals.  

The fair-haired chanteuse, clad in an exact copy of the long blue sailor dress Streisand wore for her 1965 award-winning first TV special, definitively has the singing prowess to tell the tale of the Divine Ms. Streisand at the historic Yale Club of New York City for her one-night performance on April 15, 2024.  Seated beneath a gold “coffered” ceiling at The Yale Club of New York City’s library, patrons in the filled-to-capacity room learned that a music class at NYU became a pivotal moment in Jenna’s  life, for it  was here that she studied the early life of Barbra Streisand. It was then and there that Jenna Pastuszek decided to become a strong and independent woman - to set the bar high in life and fight until she got what she wanted, like Streisand.  

As we traveled through the early sixties with our guide, the audience was overwhelmed by the extraordinary vocals of Jenna Pastuszek.  Starting with early works such as “Any Place I Hang My Hat,” “Keepin’ Out of Mischief” and “A Sleepin’ Bee” to the iconic “Don’t Rain On My Parade,” “Lover Come Back To Me,” and “People,” the applause kept coming.  This reviewer was particularly awe-struck at a rendition of the famed “Get Happy” duet featuring the songstress and her accompanist, Joshua Zecher-Ross, a pianist, musical director and Broadway conductor in his own right.  The original duet, which featured Barbra Streisand as a guest on Judy Garland’s 1963 TV show, had so poignantly illustrated to the world the former’s rising career and sadly, the late MGM star's intense struggle for her career to survive. It was that pairing of the two most brilliant and powerful singers, each belting out “Happy Days Are Here Again” / Get Happy,” that still pulls on the heart strings to this day, 61 years later.  So it was once again last night!

Jenna Pastuszek belted hit after hit to the awe-struck patrons.  Her impressive vocals are truly reminiscent of Barbra Streisand herself.  She has the musical chops to sing the songs in the way that they were meant to be sung.  But Jenna Pastuszek didn’t just sing; she embodied her “mentor” -  for that performance, she became Streisand. What a divine musical evening and this reviewer was completely enchanted.  Two encores later, the audience reluctantly allowed Jenna Pastuszek to leave the stage.

Me, Myself & Barbra, featured the phenomenally powerful vocals of Jenna Patuszek and the multi-talented pianist and musical director, Joshua Zecher-Ross.  

Find great shows to see on the The Yale Club New York City website here.