All-Pointers Bulletin : Singing Sisters Open With Their Version of ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ ’ Tonight at Arts Center

After two decades of traveling the globe as one of the Pointer Sisters, Anita Pointer thought she knew all about the rigors of the road.

But nothing quite prepared her for the task of taking a theatrical work on a yearlong journey. Since July, Pointer and sisters June and Ruth have been starring in a traveling production of “Ain’t Misbehavin’ ,” a Tony Award-winning musical based on the music of Thomas “Fats” Waller, the pianist and co-composer of such ‘30s-era songs as “Honeysuckle Rose” and “Black and Blue.” It pulls into the Orange County Performing Arts Center tonight for a six-day run.

“When we put together a concert for Vegas, it’s pretty much like theater,” Anita says. “We’ve had dancers and little skits. But nothing prepared us for matinees! The traveling and doing eight shows a week. . . . I haven’t been home since Christmas. That’s the part that gets you.”

She says the show has left the singing siblings exhausted at times but often exhilarated. This production, she adds, has its own character: Earlier stagings of the 18-year-old show often featured large women in the three lead roles. The Pointers are known for their leggy stage presence--a physical difference that Anita says automatically changed some of the comedy aspects.

Meanwhile, “Ain’t Misbehavin’ ” has helped put the Pointers back in the public eye--which Anita admits was one reason they took the project.

In the early-to-mid-’80s, pop fans couldn’t escape these sisters from Oakland. They were a virtual hit-making machine, racking up such Top 40 smashes as “I’m So Excited,” “Jump (for My Live)” and “Neutron Dance.” But their profile in recent years has been far more subdued.

Before signing on to tour in “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” the sisters had been performing largely overseas. Many U.S. gigs were well-paying but anonymous private events and conventions.

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In any case, the Pointers seem well suited to this type of period production: When they began their recording career in the mid-’70s, they were known for dressing up in ‘40s attire. And it’s not as though this is the first time they’ve done Fats Waller songs.

“We had a done a Fats Waller medley with Carol Burnett back in the ‘70s [on her TV show]. That was my first introduction to Fats Waller,” Anita recalls. “We loved the songs. We ended up using one, ‘Ain’t Nobody’s Business,’ in our show even up to this past year. And periodically we would put others songs in.

“But I was not that familiar with his music. There were a lot of songs I had heard in my life that I didn’t know were Fats Waller songs.”

The Pointer Sisters have never been reluctant to tackle a wide array of styles. In 1974, their “Fairytale” landed them a Grammy as best country single, and they became the first black women to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. Their songbook also includes rock, soul, jazz and pop material.

This musical adventurism is particularly noteworthy given that they grew up in a religious household where secular music generally was forbidden by their minister father.

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Anita says she hasn’t given up the dream of making hit records again with her sisters, but she acknowledges that it’s going to be an uphill fight, given the youth-oriented mentality of the record industry.

“There should be a separate record industry for people over 25 or 30. Anybody over 25 goes into the jazz box or something. They just stop promoting you. They seem to just promote the acts that are brand-new. It’s difficult when you put your heart and soul into an album that you think is fabulous, and the record company tells you it’s great and that they’re going to promote it, and then they don’t do anything. It’s like, how can people tell you one thing and do another? You feel more and more like an athlete.”

The sisters are weighing a number of offers for collective and individual projects, musical and theatrical, to keep them busy when the “Ain’t Misbehavin’ ” tour ends in July.

“I’ve really enjoyed doing this,” Anita says. “It’s really a fun evening, and the music is timeless. . . . I’d love to do more theater. I want to get to Broadway. But the schedule has to be right.”

* “Ain’t Misbehavin’ ” opens tonight at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 8 p.m. $19-$49.50. Continues Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 7:30 p.m. with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2. (714) 556-2787.