The Music Of Streisand — And Jenna — Coming To Little Theatre

MANCHESTER, CT — For Jenna Pastuszek, doing her Barbra Streisand show on Mother's Day at Cheney Hall in Manchester has a double meaning — she gets to celebrate being a new mom and taking on songs of someone dear to her.

Pastuszek is bringing "Me, Myself and Barbra: The Music that Made Barbara Barbra, to the Little Theatre of Manchester's Jukebox Music Series on Mother’s Day, May 12.

Showtime is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Click here for ticket information.

Pastuszek says her back story isn't quite that of Streisand singing in New York cabarets wearing thrift store clothes, but it nevertheless is a good tale to tell.

"I've been in the theater since 7 or 8," she said in an interview with Patch. "My neighbors came over one day talk to my mom and asked her,'Have you noticed Jenna out there singing to the trees?' The choice after that was therapy or musical theater. I was bitten by the bug and have been singing ever since."

She was a competitive swimmer and played lacrosse in while growing up in a Philadelphia suburb. She likened an athletic upbringing to a Streisand performance.

"Singing Barbra is an athletic event in itself," she said. "She recreated every song she's sang. She can hold longer and sing more complicated phrases. It's almost the Olympics of singing."

Don't ask Pastuszek if she's playing Barbra.

"I get asked if it's a Barbra impersonation show ... you can't impersonate an icon," she said. "I'm paying tribute to her by singing her songs. They'e sings from 1959 ... 1963 ... the ones that really put her on the map and created her stardom."

As a new mom with a one-and-a-half-year-old son, a Mother's Day show has special meaning for Pastuszek.

"Yes, I'm doing Barbra's music and telling my stories through it and telling stories about Barbra. It's appreciating a diva we know and love and learning about a new singer you might come to know and love."