Show Discovers New Columbus : Entertainment attorney pens a show, which he also stars in, combining ballads, rock and novelty songs for a different look at the explorer

By day, he’s Alan R. Glasser, attorney at law. By night he becomes Mondo Fax, purveyor of silly songs.

“That part of me won’t go away,” the entertainment attorney said. “You can rip it out of me, but I can’t deny it.”

A former music director for Natalie Cole and Jim Nabors--and a performer whose venues included New York’s Plaza Hotel, Harrah’s in Reno, Los Angeles’ Bonaventure and the Princess Cruise Lines, Glasser has turned his songwriting talents to the stage, where his “Christopher Columbus: The Live Album,” is making its premiere at the Tamarind Theatre in Hollywood.

The two-person show follows Columbus from Spain to the New World, accompanied by a running commentary (by Glasser/Fax as Columbus), some shtick with the audience and a dozen Glasser tunes, ranging from ballads to rock ‘n’ roll to novelty songs. Longtime friend Sherry Glaser plays all the women in Columbus’ life: his mother, wife, mistress, Queen Isabella, an Indian princess and “Ethel Mermaid.” Said the actress-singer: “All I do is change clothes. It’s a very camped-out, wild comedy.”

Hoping to beat the glut of Columbus fare accompanying the explorer’s quincentennial in October, Glasser (whose song “Eat My Shorts” was recorded by Rick Dees) is also hoping that audiences receive his show in the spirit in which it’s offered: good fun. Accordingly, his visual concept was “Pee-wee Herman Meets the Tiki Room”; the resultant set comes alive with puppets, sailors and singing dolphins.

“Chris is going to be rolling in his grave--or rock ‘n’ rolling,” he said cheerfully. “As an attorney, I know you can’t please everybody; there’s always going to be someone offended. Is the show irreverent? Probably. Sacrilegious? Probably not. Some people will say that Disneyland is sacrilegious. If I do get throngs of Native American protesters, I’ll invite them in. My perspective of Chris is as a questioning person: ‘Boy, we didn’t do right by these people. If I could do it again, how’d I do it differently?’ ”

Indeed, the show has received a negative review, but beyond presenting his own viewpoint, the writer is making no attempt to influence public opinion.

“Christopher Columbus is Christopher Columbus,” Glasser said firmly. “It doesn’t matter what the Italians or the Spanish or I say. He is who he was in history: a poor schnook with a boat. Actually, the ships he took over were very modest--and he had to rent one. He didn’t get a lot of gold. You know, his goal was not to discover the New World; it was to prove he could sail west to China from Spain. His only problem was that the globe he was thinking of didn’t have North or South America.”

Columbus’ life is also played out in a slide show that Glasser created for the occasion. “I had to cheat a little,” he said good-naturedly. “The original pictures were lost, but I think we’ve come up with a reasonable facsimile.”

The footage includes Columbus’ 1486 marriage to Felipa (shot in black and white with a Super 8), with wedding guests that inexplicably include Groucho Marx, Truman Capote and a stress nurse. “No more secrets,” Glasser quipped. “After 500 years, the truth can finally be told.”

Actually, Glasser/Fax’s offstage life is pretty interesting, too.

Born in New York to a pair of Radio City Music Hall dancers, he recalled: “When I was 3, my mom was putting tap shoes on me and telling me I was going to be a lawyer. So there were some mixed signals.” His father later became a businessman; his mother became a professor--then at 64, a lawyer. Glasser’s own credits include stints with the improv group Off the Wall and the American Folk Ballet (in which his sister also performed) and double majors in political science and music at UCLA.

Lured away from graduate school by a job as a singer-guitar player on “The John Davidson Show,” Glasser later took on the moniker Mondo Fax and began performing his novelty songs at the Ice House and on the Dr. Demento radio show. Segueing again into law, he spent a year at Disney, then at another production company (as head of legal/business affairs) before striking out on his own. In 1989, the Glendale law office of DiJulio & Glasser was born.

“Knowing the law is a really powerful tool in life,” he said earnestly. “When you’re in litigation, you learn a new little subject each time. You have to get smart about a lot of different things, and that’s interesting to me. It’s funny, though: You put on a suit and people treat you differently--with respect, and often a little fear. I have friends in both worlds, and some people have difficulty reconciling my life. But I’m real satisfied. I’ve got friends, family, health, career and a very nice avocation. I’m just knocking on wood.”