''Do Re Mi'' is a 1996

Philippine The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

film directed by Ike Jarlego Jr. The film stars

Donna Cruz Donna Cruz Yrastorza-Larrazabal (born February 14, 1977) (), is a Filipina singer and actress. Since the middle of the 1990s, she has released 8 studio albums, and featured as an actress in local films. She has also appeared on four soundtrac ...

Regine Velasquez Regina Encarnacion "Regine" Ansong Velasquez-Alcasid ( ; born April 22, 1970) is a Filipino singer and actress. She is considered one of the most influential figures in Philippine popular culture and is known for her vocal range and beltin ...

, and

Mikee Cojuangco Mikaela María Antonia "Mikee" de los Reyes Cojuangco-Jaworski (born February 26, 1974) is a Filipino sports official, equestrian, model, former actress and television host. She was a gold medalist at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Kore ...

. The movie is considered to be the most successful Filipino musical comedy of all time. The film's title is a play between the

solfège In music, solfège (British English or American English , ) or solfeggio (; ), also called sol-fa, solfa, solfeo, among many names, is a mnemonic used in teaching aural skills, Pitch (music), pitch and sight-reading of Western classical music, W ...

and a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

using the first two letters of Donna, Regine and Mikee's first names.

Plot

The film uses the concept of three female singers who, "as they sing their way through life's ups and downs, they build a friendship strong enough to last a lifetime." In an attempt to salvage their group's music career, Reggie Mendoza (

), a self-confessed lola's girl, and Mikki Tolentino (

), a man-hating

tomboy A tomboy is a girl or young woman who generally expresses masculine traits. Such traits may include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and engaging in activities and behaviors traditionally associated with boys or men. Origins The w ...

and

breadwinner The breadwinner model is a paradigm of family centered on a breadwinner, "the member of a family who earns the money to support the others." Traditionally, the earner works outside the home to provide the family with income and benefits such as he ...

of her family, discover Donnette Legaspi (

), a vainglorious, and spoiled rich girl, to be part of their musical trio, DoReMi. Despite their drastic differences in both their personalities and principles, their shared love for music allowed them to consider pursuing a music career in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, only to figure out in an interrogation at the local airport that a fly-by-night recruitment agency had falsified their documents and faked their passports. Due to this mishap, the girls travel to an unknown rural province, putting themselves in a self-imposed exile after the embarrassment they faced after chasing their dreams. While still considering the idea of becoming successful in the music industry, the girls help convert a small local restaurant into a mini

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

where they can perform to sustain their daily needs and expenses. Their successful stint as vocal performers consistently draw huge crowds, and their popularity in the area attracted several record executives to sign them for a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

. On the day of the group's contract signing, both Donnette and Mikki back out from signing the record deal, leaving a disheartened Reggie as a solo act. As Reggie pursued a career as a successful solo singer, Donnette channeled her efforts to help orphans and other abused children in

social welfare Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance p ...

, and Mikki, started her own family, and food business with Toto (

Gary Estrada Gary Jason Bocaling Ejercito (; born May 16, 1971), better known as Gary Estrada, is a Filipino actor and politician. He was a former talent of Viva Films during his early years, starring in action and drama films. He is also a politician, ha ...

), whom she met and fell in love with in the province. In a charitable gala where all three of them unknowingly participate in, the girls are brought together once more as they perform the song they co-wrote together.

Planning and production

According to a retrospective by

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

, the film "was originally titled ''Sana'y Wala Nang Wakas 2''," based loosely on the 1986 film starring

Sharon Cuneta Sharon Gamboa Cuneta-Pangilinan (born January 6, 1966) is a Filipino actress, singer, and television personality. Prolific in multiple fields of entertainment, she is known for playing dramatic and comedic leading roles in film and television. ...

Cherie Gil Evangeline Rose Gil Eigenmann (; June 21, 1963 – August 5, 2022), known professionally as Cherie Gil (), was a Filipino actress. With a career spanning nearly 50 years, she was dubbed the "''La Primera Contravida''" ("The Prime Villain") " ( ...

, and

Dina Bonnevie Geraldyn "Dina" Schaer Bonnevie (, formerly Sotto, Penson, and Savellano; born January 27, 1962) is a Filipino people, Filipino actress. She is recognized as the industry's "Drama Queen" of her generation. She has won 2 FAMAS Award, FAMAS Awa ...

Promotion

Being hailed as the highly anticipated movie of 1996, there was extreme hype behind the collaboration between the three main actresses. To promote the movie, Cruz, Velasquez and Cojuangco appeared in an episode of ''

T.G.I.S. ''T.G.I.S.'' is a Philippine television drama series broadcast by GMA Network. Directed by Mark A. Reyes and later Dominic Zapata, it stars Bobby Andrews, Angelu de Leon, Onemig Bondoc, Michael Flores, Raven Villanueva, Red Sternberg, Di ...

'', reprising their roles in the film. The girls also appeared in all three major networks,

GMA Network GMA Network (an acronym of its legal name, Global Media Arts and commonly known as GMA) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine commercial broadcast network, serving as the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network (company), ...

and

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

(now 5) for several interviews in various talk and variety shows. For the film and soundtrack's press release, Cruz, Velasquez, and Cojuangco performed the songs in a promotional mini-concert. Despite being part of the movie, Velasquez' vocals were not part in recording of the movie's soundtrack, as it was a then-upcoming VIVA Records singer named Krystine Marcaida, who sang vocals on her part. In the movie version, Velasquez was able to record her vocals just in time before the movie was released.Regine Multimedia V3.0 // Discography
Reginemultimedia.com. Retrieved on November 18, 2011.

Reception

The film was released to critical acclaim, with majority of the critics praising the chemistry and comic timing of Cruz, Velasquez and Cojuangco altogether, while still establishing character distinction as individuals. The movie became the most successful Filipino musical comedy film of the nineties earning ₱170 million in its one-month theatrical run. The song "I Can", which was the main theme of the movie, also became a number-one hit in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Cast

;Main cast *

as Donnette Legaspi *

as Reggie Mendoza *

as Mikki Tolentino ;Supporting cast *

Gloria Romero Gloria Anne Borrego Galla (December 16, 1933 – January 25, 2025), known professionally as Gloria Romero (), was an American-born Filipino actress. Regarded as the "Queen of Philippine Cinema", she appeared in over 250 motion pictures and t ...

as Reggie's Lola *

as Toto *

Berting Labra Berting Labra (born Roberto S. Labra; April 17, 1933 – February 10, 2009) was a Filipino veteran actor equally adept in comedy and drama, in action flicks and musicals....... Personal life and career Labra starred in ''Apat na Taga'' in 195 ...

as Mikki's Father *

Evangeline Pascual Evangeline Louise Ancheta Pascual (born November 30, 1956) is a Filipino actress, artist, radio host and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Republic of the Philippines 1973 and represented the Philippines at Miss World 1973 where she pla ...

as Donette's Mother * Ramil Rodriguez as Donette's Father * Anthony Cortez as Julio * Melisse Santiago as Nene * Lee Robin Salazar as Joey * Lorli Villanueva as Mikki's Mother * Ricky Rivero as Boyet * Gerard Faisan as Victor * Carlos Ramirez I as Kambal I * Carlos Ramirez II as Kambal II * Elaine Kemuel as Dorothy * Archie Adamos as Nene's Father ;Cameos cast *

Cesar Montano Cesar Demontaño Manhilot (born August 1, 1962), known professionally as Cesar Montano (), is a Filipino actor, film producer, film director and aspiring politician. Montano started in show business as a commercial model.Ruby Rodriguez Mari Ruby Rodriguez-Aquino (born January 10, 1966) is a Filipina actress and a former host of the Philippine noontime variety show ''Eat Bulaga!''. Career Rodriguez originally started her career as a preschool teacher, later appearing in a r ...

* Menchu Macapagal

Soundtrack

''DoReMi: Music from the Motion Picture'' features songs performed by

, Regine Velasquez and girl group Vanna Vanna and was produced by Viva Records. All of the songs were produced by Margot M. Gallardo, with the album's main theme, "I Can," being co-produced by Louie M. Ocampo.

Track listing

References

External links

* {{Ike Jarlego Jr. 1996 films 1990s Tagalog-language films 1990s English-language films 1990s musical comedy films Philippine musical comedy films Neo Films films 1996 multilingual films Philippine multilingual films Films directed by Ike Jarlego Jr. Films with screenplays by Mel Mendoza-Del Rosario English-language musical comedy films 1996 musical films