Up Until Now and Times Square Arts presented three live performances in celebration of July’s Midnight Moment.

Friday, July 9 | 11pm – 12am
Duffy Square, Broadway and 46th
In celebration of their Midnight Moment Georgia, as well as their new Broadstream video series SOUL(SIGNS): AN ASL PLAYLIST, Up Until Now Collective presents live performances in Times Square showcasing the talents of a diverse roster of interdisciplinary artists.

Culminating with a live rendition of Georgia in the moments leading up to midnight, the late-night event will also include a dance performance by Kayla Hamilton and a live ASL cover of En Vogue's Free Your Mind featuring the SOUL(SIGNS) cast (Brandon Kazen-Maddox, Alexandria Wailes, Mervin Primeaux-O'Bryant and Michelle Banks). These ASL-accessible performances feature musical accompaniment from members of the Warp Trio, an internationally touring cross-genre chamber music experience conducted by David Bloom.

Tuesday, July 13 | 9pm – 10pm
Broadway and 44th
Come hear the gentle yet soulful sounds of Linda Diaz, a singer, songwriter, and performer from Manhattan’s Lower East Side, the winner of the 2020 NPR Tiny Desk Contest, and co-host of the PBS musical education series Sound Field. Featuring her easily recognizable lush vocal arrangements, powerful lyricism, and jazzy R&B sound, her Times Square performance will also feature ASL interpretation by Up Until Now member Brandon Kazen-Maddox.  

Tuesday, July 20 | 9pm – 10pm
Broadway and 44th
Join us for a night of triumphant pop anthems and heart-wrenching lullabies from Shayfer James and Kate Douglas' The Ninth Hour, a rock-noir reimagining of Beowulf, the famous epic exploring the intricacies of mankind's relationship with power and violence. Featuring ASL interpretation by Brandon Kazen-Maddox and special guests.

We’ll be boarding the train to Georgia every midnight in July with UP UNTIL NOW – a new artist collective creating interdisciplinary content that is radically empathetic, accessible, diverse and inclusive. The collective’s American Sign Language (ASL) cover of Gladys Knight & The Pips’ ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’ is performed by Deaf actor and dancer Mervin Primeaux-O’Bryant and Brandon Kazen-Maddox, a hearing Grandchild of Deaf Adults (GODA), dancer, choreographer and third-generation native signer of ASL. Elevating sign language from supporting role to center stage, Georgia makes music visible nightly in Times Square, synchronized across more than 75 screens in the moments leading up to midnight.

In their moving and animated rendition of the 1973 classic, Primeaux-O’Bryant signs the role of a heartbroken Gladys Knight, and The Pips are personified by Kazen-Maddox — Knight's confidant as she rallies herself to join her lover who’s decided to leave her for a ‘simpler place and time.’ The duo incorporates Black ASL and elements of Visual Vernacular to embody an invisible train and bring to life the seductive and punchy lyrics of the original song.

Georgia is one of 10 covers of seminal musical works by Black female artists in a series by UP UNTIL NOW titled SOUL(SIGNS): An ASL Playlist, all commissioned by Broadstream Media, a new arts streaming platform.

Throughout the month of July, UP UNTIL NOW Collective will also be presenting weekly live performances in Times Square incorporating music, dance and ASL.

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