VINTAGERuby – Elizabeth I: Words and Music

Step inside the world of Elizabethan England, where music was power, art was politics, and a woman ruled with brilliance and steel. in VINTAGERuby – Elizabeth I: Words and Music, Ars Nova shares the stage with actor Tamara Meneghini to bring Queen Elizabeth I to life.

Drawing upon her acclaimed one-woman play Elizabeth I: In Her Own Words, Meneghini gives voice to the sovereign’s private reflections. The choir puts the queen’s thoughts into dialogue with the music she heard, supported, and cherished: music by English composers who were not only masters of polyphony, but also skillful diplomats, navigating a treacherous political environment.

The evening’s music includes Thomas Tallis’s Spem in alium, a monumental works with forty independent voice parts, all rising in waves of supplication; William Byrd’s “O Lord, Make Elizabeth Our Queen,” a sublimely gentle prayer on Elizabeth’s behalf; and madrigals from The Triumphs of Oriana, an intimate glimpse into the queen’s mythic aura.

In its interplay between soaring polyphony and regal words, VINTAGERuby – Elizabeth I: Words and Music creates a touching portrait of a queen both feared and loved.

An actor in Elizabethan costume and white face makeup sits at a table with books, a mirror, and a vase of red and white flowers, reaching out with one hand.
Tamara Meneghini as Queen Elizabeth I
Older woman with short gray and brown hair, wearing gold hoop earrings and an orange collared shirt, looking directly at the camera with a slight smile.
Tamara Meneghini

Tammy L. Meneghini is thrilled to be collaborating with Ars Nova Singers in bringing this specially edited version of the full-length solo play, Elizabeth I: In Her Own Words, for the first time with sung music. (The original music for the play is arranged and played by Rick Pruitt, guitarist.) The full-length play, by Carole Levin, in collaboration with Tamara Meneghini and Sabin Epstein, premiered in 2025 at the Dairy Arts Center, Elitch Historic Theatre, Southwest Shakespeare Company (AZ),  United Solo Festival, NY (winner, “Best Classical Play”), and Newberry Library (Chicago). A shorter version of the play premiered at Edinburgh Fringe 2024, receiving outstanding reviews and playing to sold out houses. We are excited to embark on this new imagining of the play with sung music of the period and are grateful to Ars Nova Singers for agreeing to support this project.

Tamara Meneghini is on the faculty at the University of Colorado Boulder, Department of Theater & Dance. She is a teaching artist at the Center for Musical Arts and the Denver Center for Performing Arts – Education Program, and an Intimacy Coordinator. She is one of the co-founders of the Rocky Mountain Artists’ Safety Alliance and a collaborator on the Community Standards for Theater, used today in the majority of theaters in our region. Her upcoming acting work includes the productions of Fireflies and Mary Jane with BETC (Boulder Ensemble Theater Company) at the Dairy Arts Center. Elizabeth I: In Her Own Words, directed by Sabin Epstein, will be hitting the road again this summer – learn more at tamarameneghini.com.

Praise for Elizabeth I: In Her Own Words
~ “A heart-wrenching, intimately moving portrait of an individual who continues to speak to the hearts and minds of so many” ~ Theatre Weekly

~ “A faultless production in every way, beautifully written, superbly performed, going through a huge range of emotions effortlessly, Meneghini delivers a sexy, emotionally powerful queenly performance…”
~ British Theatre Guide

Artwork: “Heaven and Earth” by Scott Fraser