The Broadway performer returns to Colorado with two tribute shows honoring Barbra Streisand and Judy.

For one weekend only, Miners Alley Performing Arts Center in Golden hosts Broadway performer Jenna Pastuszek for two musical tributes: Me, Myself & Barbra on Saturday, July 18, and Get Happy! Celebrating 100+ Years of Judy Garland on Sunday, July 19.

Ahead of the shows, Pastuszek — joined this time by New York music director Kyle Branzel — sat down to talk about how the two pieces came together, what audiences can expect from a full jazz trio and a rotating guest artist, and why neither show is an impersonation. Here’s an edited version of that conversation.

You brought Get Happy! to the Denver area a couple of years ago. How different is this version?

The show has new arrangements, and this time you’ll hear it with my music director from New York, Kyle Branzel, who also serves as my male guest artist. We’re adding some iconic Judy duets — songs she performed with Mickey Rooney, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby — to the set list. Last time we did the show outdoors at Swallow Hill’s Summer Music Series, and there was actually a tornado warning at one point that paused things. This time it’ll be indoors at the beautiful, recently renovated Miners Alley.

Can you describe the format of both shows? Are they similar to each other?

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Both will run in 40- to 45-minute halves with a 10- to 15-minute intermission in between, so people can chat, grab snacks and refreshments. What’s also similar is that neither show is an impersonation of Judy or Barbra. You’ll hear well-known songs both women performed, along with some lesser-known material — the kind where you think, “I didn’t know Judy Garland sang ‘A Lot of Livin’ to Do’ from Bye Bye Birdie.” Between songs, you’ll hear stories about their lives and about mine — how a millennial ended up caring so much about Judy or Barbra, and what that has to do with today.

How to pronounce ‘Pastuszek’ according to Jenna: It’s Pass to Zach. Pass the ball to a kid named Zach. (Pass-tuh-zek).

What made you settle on the material for the Barbra show specifically?

Barbra’s discography is so expansive that I was honestly overwhelmed when I first sat down to build the show. What interested me most was her origin story — a poor, fatherless Jewish woman from Brooklyn whose early career was chaotic, including periods of homelessness and sleeping on her agent’s couch. She was determined no matter how many no’s she got. She also never actually wanted to be a singer — she wanted to be a dramatic actress. So the show centers on the jazz sets she performed between 1957 and 1963, the ones that turned her into the icon we know, along with plenty of the more familiar favorites people expect.

You’ve said both shows are deeply personal to you. At what point did they become more than an influence on your own singing — something you wanted to build full theatrical pieces around?

Honestly, by accident. The Judy show started with a phone call in June 2019 from a theatre company in Cape May, New Jersey, asking me to put together a Judy tribute for their annual gala. My team in New York said I had to bring it there too, and we were set to debut it in May 2020 — right when the pandemic hit. I watched theatre companies pivoting to different kinds of offerings for their audiences, and realized the show could work as simply as me and a piano six feet apart, or scaled up much bigger.

That’s really the origin story — and it kept going because so many theatres, some I’d worked with before and some brand new to me, needed quality programming for their patrons. These shows became this accidental gift that let me keep performing and connecting with people across the country throughout a strange time — everywhere from Nantucket to Florida to Wisconsin to San Diego to Denver.

Photo courtesy Jenna Pastuszek

What’s the setup at Miners Alley?

It’s a full jazz trio — upright bass, drums and piano. On Saturday, Sharon K. White joins as my special guest for the Barbra show; in 1963, a 21-year-old Barbra Streisand performed live on The Judy Garland Show, so we’re doing some songs from that segment. On Sunday, Kyle Branzel doubles as my male guest artist for some of the Garland duets.

Are the musicians traveling with you, or local to Colorado?

Both local. John Cullison and Keith Embers are Denver musicians. John played my show at Swallow Hill two years ago, so I’m excited to reconnect with him. Keith is new to me, but he’s worked with Sharon K. White quite a bit, probably around the Arvada Center or Aurora Fox. Part of what’s fun is seeing how connected the Colorado theatre community is — my whole relationship with Miners Alley traces back to doing Sister Act at Theatre SilCo in 2017, which led to Thunder River Theatre Company, which eventually led me to Miners Alley. Every time I meet someone else from the Colorado theatre world, I think it’s the best theatre community in the country, hands down.

You mentioned Borscht Belt comedy as part of the Barbra show. Is that a tradition you have a personal connection to?

I do. My family is Ukrainian and immigrated right after World War II, and as a kid I actually spent a few Thanksgivings at Kutcher’s, an old Catskills resort where comedy legends used to perform. I loved The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and I think there’s something true to that in Barbra — she’s genuinely funny, which comes through even on her old live records. Funny enough, during an interview in Connecticut someone asked if I knew Barbra was also Ukrainian. I looked into it, and it turns out her grandparents immigrated from the same part of Ukraine as mine did. So leaning into that self-deprecating Borscht Belt style feels like a fun way to pay homage to her.

Was there ever a temptation to slide into an impersonation, given how familiar these women’s recordings are?

Both women shaped my own vocal training growing up, so what’s fun is finding the moments where I can emulate what they did without doing a straight impression. Judy’s style is full of melismas — dramatic rises and falls — and I get to play with where one of those fits naturally for me as an artist.

With Barbra, it’s a riskier show to publicize, since she’s still alive and, frankly, nobody sings like Barbra. When people hear I’m doing a Barbra Streisand show, the reaction is often, “Are you, though?” I’m not claiming to be her — I’m saying thank you for teaching me so much about singing, and inviting people to come see for themselves.

Photo courtesy Jenna Pastuszek

What similarities do you see between Streisand and Garland?

Both persevered through difficult conditions, and both show up generously. Right before I go onstage, I repeat a mantra I learned from a mentor: show up to give. I think both women embody that, despite the chaos in their personal lives — Judy’s was constant, and Barbra went roughly two decades without performing live after her 1967 Central Park concert, afraid of forgetting lyrics since she’d never actually trained as a singer. Even surrounded by that fear, they both forced themselves onto the stage and stayed present with the people who’d shown up for them.

You sound like you’re on the road constantly. What else is on your plate this year?

I’m a bi-coastal musical theater performer based in LA, in New York at least once a month, and I also teach voice out of a studio there. These shows have already played Pennsylvania and Connecticut this year, with Virginia and New Jersey coming up, and we’re hoping to book more. Most recently I did an off-Broadway run of 44 — The Unofficial Unauthorized Obama Musical, told through Joe Biden’s hazy recollection, where I played Hillary Clinton — a total hoot. We ran three months at the Daryl Roth in Union Square, then six weeks at Shakespeare Theatre Company in D.C. I’ve heard there may be some election-season projects in the works next. Wherever I travel, I love exploring — I’m always looking for a good chocolate chip cookie, a good hike or a local restaurant worth trying.

Anything else you want Colorado audiences to know?

Just that I’m very excited to come back to Denver. I first performed in Colorado in 2017 with Sister Act and fell in love with the area and the artists here. I’m hopeful everyone comes out and enjoys some beautiful live music together.