(LONG BEACH ISLAND, NJ) -- Jenna Pastuszek and Joshua Zecher-Ross bring Me, Myself & Barbra: The Music that Made Barbara Barbra, to The Surflight Theatre on Long Beach Island for two shows on Monday, August 14th. Joined by Maestra’s Yuka Tadano on bass and Meghan Doyle on drums. Performances take place 5:00pm and 8:00pm.
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 tribute to a trailblazing young Barbra. With “lavishly clever arrangements”, and “witty, endearing personal stories”, the evening features the music sung between 1959-1965 that turned her into the icon we know and love today.
Tickets are available for purchase online. Surflight Theatre is located at 201 Engleside Avenue in Beach Haven, New Jersey.
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 two packed performances at The Surflight Theatre, Pastuszek and Zecher-Ross teamed up again to create another tribute, now part of a concert series they’re calling “The Original American Idols”.
As an undergraduate history major, 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 too. 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 explore my own history with such a beautiful score behind me.”
Speaking of history, the Pastuszek family first took up residence in Beach Haven sometime shortly after WWII and maintained residency on 4th Street until 2019. “I grew up spending my summers down the shore with my grandparents, hitting garage sales on Saturday mornings with my Djaju (Ukrainian for grandpa), having lunch at The Holiday, and seeing shows at The Surflight with my Babcia (grandma). I dreamed of growing up and performing on stage there one day, so it’s incredibly exciting to be able to bring this show ‘home’.”
After a successful run last summer at Paper Mill Playhouse’s Brookside Cabaret, Mark S. Hoebee, Artistic Director, said, “Jenna is an incredible singer with a facile voice perfectly suited to Me, Myself and Barbra.” He thought that “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 NYC’s The Green Room 42, 54 Below at Vitello’s, and the Zlock Performing Arts Center. Upcoming performances include the Willow Theatre in Florida and Overture Center for the Arts in Wisconsin.
ABOUT THE TEAM
JENNA PASTUSZEK is an acclaimed singer and actor who has graced stages and delighted audiences from Maine to Florida, from Cape May to Los Angeles. You can hear her on Pandora Radio as the voice of Starbucks Café, Amazon, Pepsi, Crest, and more. In addition to performing, Jenna is a highly sought-after voice teacher and performance coach, most recently on faculty at USC and UArts. She is the Co-Founder of Innovative Voice Studio, where she trains Broadway artists, and of Innovative Performance, where she coaches leaders across a variety of industries to use their voices to better express themselves. Proud Ukrainian, and graduate of NYU Steinhardt & the University of Virginia.
JOSHUA ZECHER-ROSS (Music Supervisor, Arranger, Orchestrator) has worked on 100s of productions and performances in New York and around North America as a music supervisor and director, conductor, pianist, and arranger. Broadway: Be More Chill (conductor sub), Once Upon a One More Time (keyboard sub), Some Like it Hot (rehearsal pianist). Recently: The Marvelous Wonderettes (Alabama Shakespeare Festival), A Christmas Carol (Denver Center), The Louder We Get (Theatre Calgary). Other regional: Barrington Stage Company, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, George Street Playhouse, Sharon Playhouse, and The Little Theatre on the Square (Sullivan, Illinois) where he also served as artistic director. Joshua is the composer of RESCUE RUE, a musical for young audiences, which recently had an off-Broadway run, and is the music director and arranger for several shows currently in development. Recent recordings: Past Demons and Future Demons by Ryan Scott Oliver, Her Sound by Ethan Carlson, In the Light: A Faustian Tale by Michael Mott. He is also an instructor and the head of music at the musical theatre program at the NY Film Academy, and has been a part of the Actor Therapy family since 2014.
The mission of Surflight Theatre is to provide high quality professional live theatre to the vacationers of Long Beach Island and the residents of Southern New Jersey, while providing training to young theatre performers and technicians. Our goal is to engage, entertain and foster appreciation of live theatre for adults, teens and children and serve as a community resource. Our Mainstage employs professionals and early career artists for Broadway style productions 7 months of the year. Our Children's Theatre provides entertainment for ages 2-10 to promote a lifelong interest in the performing arts. Our educational program includes Surflight To-Go, a touring educational theatre company.
