If you ever wondered what it might have been like to live in the Kansas City of the 30's, you can satisfy your curiosity at Union Station's City Stage. There, on weekend nights through at least November 18 and maybe beyond, the McFadden Brothers and their entourage recreate the Kansas City jazz era with great respect and high style. Indeed, it is hard to imagine a more intrinsically Kansas City event to share with out-of-town visitors than this show called, appropriately enough, After Hours.

Upon entering the theater, guests pass through a hazy walkway and into another time and place. Many of the seats, in fact, are right on the set, a 1930's era East Side bar at some very wee small hour of the morning. The musicians drift in and say their hellos: a drummer, a bass player, a pianist, a singer or two, and the inimitable McFaddens, brothers Ronald and Lonnie. The ensemble plays a little, sings a little and reveals for the audience a slice of American culture that one doesn't see enough of any more: not so much "jazz" as love, longing, and life all set to music.

The McFaddens are, as they say, to the manor born. The brothers learned to sing, to play and especially to dance at home under the tutelage of their father, the late, great Jimmy "Pops" McFadden. As a result, they display the kind of instinctive grace and synergy that only brothers can have. The ensemble numbers that they lead vocally - like How High The Moon and It Don't Mean A Thing - are stunning in their casual precision. Lonnie's play on the trumpet and Ronald's on the alto sax is inspired. And their dancing, quite simply, steals the show.

As Ronald tells it, every now and then people come to the show who had seen Pops McFadden perform. "Their comment," says Ronald, "is not only how proud our father must have been but also how proud they are at the way we are keeping his legacy as well as the legacy of the Kansas City Jazz era alive." As Ronald relates, their father instructed them as kids to respect "the integrity and character of the performers in his era." The respect is evident in every song the brothers sing and step they make. The only down side to the show is that it reminds the audience of how much of our shared heritage has, in lesser hands, slipped away.

If the McFaddens provide the soul, the two female vocalists deliver the heart. Native Kansas Citian Sharon Thompson brings a youthful, full-bodied verve to the proceedings, especially in numbers like "Body and Soul," "Night and Day" and the wonderfully naughty, "Snatch and Grab It." This last, highly animated song suggests just how much more mysterious and fun sex could be in music when it wasn't laid out on the table and dissected.

Veteran songstress Geneva Price strolls on to the set as inauspiciously as someone's grandma. Once on stage, however, she sings with the kind of clarity and conviction that elevates the music above the level of mere "jazz." Particularly memorable is her solo, "Willow Weep for Me," a styling that could quite credibly wring tears from a tree. Rounding out the ensemble are Dwight Foster on bass (among other instruments) and Donivan Bailey on drums. Both prove entertaining as characters and inspired as musicians. On the night of this review, Charles Williams filled in seamlessly on piano in place of musical director, Ronnell Bright.

For those who have not yet been to Union Station, After Hours offers a great excuse for going. The McFaddens feel at home here amidst the station's elegance and history. Says Ronald, "I think it is the best venue in town for the brand of entertainment we do."