Donna Loren was the “It Girl” long before Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian hit the streets of Beverly Hills.

Back in the mid 1960s, she was seen as the “Dr. Pepper Girl” in TV commercials and print ads as a real life “Gidget” who was also seen singing in movies like Beach Blanket Bingo and Muscle Beach Party and in TV’s Shindig! where she sang pop tunes along the lines of The Beatles, Beach Boys, and Rolling Stones, circa 1964 and '65.

By Jerry Cutler

Written nearly a century and a half ago, Alice has come to us over the years as an adorable young girl who meets up with some of the strangest characters in Wonderland. Then, Tim Burton came and made her 13 years older in the person of Mia Wasikowska, and with the addition of 3D, has Burton-ized Lewis Carroll’s classic into a darker and very exciting movie.

On Monday I drove from the west side to Warner Bros. Studios for a screening of Cop Out, starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan. I gave myself a little more than an hour to reach my destination. Needless to tell you, Los Angeles traffic is excruciating especially when you have to be somewhere at an appointed time. 

 Valentine’s Day was directed by Garry Marshall and written by Katherine Fugate with a story by Fugate, Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein. It was produced by Mike Karz and Wayne Rice and executive produced by Toby Emmerich, Samuel J. Brown, Michael Disco, Diana Pokorny and Josie Rosen.  I sincerely believe that all of the above had a story line to pitch that was accepted and woven into the jumble that opens today.

The USC School of Theatre, launches a new tradition by honoring actor/director Robert Redford with the newly established Robert Redford Award for Engaged Artists at an inaugural gala fundraiser at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 10 at The Beverly Wilshire.

The award, to be presented annually, was created to recognize artists who have distinguished themselves not only in the quality, skill and innovation of their work but also in their public commitment to social responsibility, to increasing awareness of global issues and events and to inspiring and empowering young people.

While doing research for a film on Swiss banks and Holocaust accounts,  documentary producer and director Gaylen Ross heard a survivor tell of being on the “Kasztner train.”

That encounter nine years ago has resulted in her latest film, Killing Kasztner, a documentary about Rezso Kasztner, “the Jew who dared to negotiate with Adolf Eichmann.”

Killing Kasztner opens today in limited release in Beverly Hills and  West Hills.

“It was remarkable to me that this rescue train went to Switzerland out of Hungary during the worst deportation of Jews, and I knew nothing about it,” said Ross in a phone interview from New York. “I knew nothing about the deal for 10,000 trucks for the last million Jews. It was an incredible story about the largest rescue of its kind during the war. And it was as if it had been erased.”

When the new Glendale Philharmonic Orchestra kicks off its inaugural season this month, Beverly Hills’ August Lee will be featured in the cello section.

Lee, a student of Ruslan Biryukov, founder of the orchestra, is happy to have been invited to join.

“I think it could be very successful,”  Lee says. “There are good players; and I feel like I’m studying something new with new people. It feels good.”

A Call From The Vatican is not just a number from the musical and now hot film Nine—it’s what local artist Stephen Verona received (well actually it was an e-mail) inviting him to take part in  an historic  conclave of artists from around the world with Pope Benedict XVI.

Now back from the two-day November gathering, Verona is still not sure why he was invited by Archbishop Gianfranco Ravisi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture,  for the honor. But he suspects it was because of his body of work.

Known for his paintings, photographs, cutouts and writing, Verona was suggested to the Vatican by one of the dealers he works with. His last show of photographs, “Tripping,” opened in October at DAP Studios in Los Angeles.

Israeli singer Miri Aloni, will present an evening of Israeli music at 7 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 13 in the Gindi Auditorium at American Jewish University, 15600 Mulholland Dr. in Bel Air.

For many, Aloni is remembered for her performance of Shir L’ashalom (Sing for the Peace) alongside the late Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin.
Tickets are $25. For more information, call 310-440-1246.

When the Opera Buffs  hold their Performance Showcase next weekend,  50-year residents Dick and Lenore Wayne will happily be in attendance.

They are both actively involved in the group that  helps young singers who are making a career of opera with financial help and performance opportunities.

 Wayne is a board member and chair of the scholarship committee. He retired nine years ago after 25 years as a stockbroker with Merrill Lynch and joined the group 24 years ago—a year after it was founded.

Alexandra Silber is happy to be home.

The star of Reprise Theatre’s new and currently running production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic musical Carousel is making her American  debut in the city of her birth.

“It’s gobsmaking,” says Silber.  Just the response you’d expect from a a young actress educated in Scotland and already with an impressive resume including leading roles in three London West End musicals.

One person especially excited to see Silber on stage is Jean Nelson her second grade (now third grade) teacher at El Rodeo. Silber attended from 1989-93.

Tim Crouch is a  powerful actor. I would say domineering, which is half praise, half insult.  He stars in An Oak Tree, an experience he wrote for himself and another actor now playing at the Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. through Feb. 14.  

Constantly moving with a sinuous grace, like a wise but angry cat, his pure confidence is almost abusive. He commands the stage, controls every moment, and never loses his self-indulgent ambition.  

I hesitate to call this a play, as it is more of a monument to theatrical megalomania. Perhaps “performance art” is a more descriptive title. 

The Scandinavian Film Festival Los Angeles will say “Skål!” to its 11th year for two weekends, Jan. 9-10 and 16-17, at the Writers Guild Theater, 135 S. Doheny (at Wilshire).

Showcasing highlights of recent Nordic cinema from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, the festival includes each country’s Academy Award submission for the Best Foreign Language Film, along with additional current features, and a sampling of shorts and documentaries.

The opening weekend starts with a documentary This Is Hollywood—which chronicles the experiences of two Finnish filmmakers pitching their first screenplay in Hollywood.

For his first film as an executive producer, Adam Krentzman, along with filmmaker Peter Rodger,  are taking on an ageless question, “what is God?”

The inspiration for their indy documentary Oh My God, Krentzman said, came from the idea that you could have 50 people in a room “and they would all have a different perception of what God is. People fly buildings into planes in the name of God.”

Beverly Hills actress turned producer Arleen Grace has now thrown her hat into the publishing arena with her newly formed independent Grace Manor Press.

Grace’s intentions were originally to start slowly with the publication of her first title The Steam. Being a diehard basketball fan, she felt Steve Alper's gritty, sports-based crime novel was a natural for her new company as it dealt with a corrupt, game-fixing NBA referee who teams up with a desperate sports gambler.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has set two programs to celebrate films from 100 years ago.

• “A Century Ago: The Films of 1909—The Stars Are Born,” starting at 7:30 p.m., Monday, Nov. 30, will spotlight the public’s earliest recognition of and preference for screen actors, which evolved into the “star system” of  motion picture advertising.