Working Girls, 25 years after

The movie Working Girls had what I would call a most memorable introduction to the public in 1985. The trailer showed the streets of Makati coming alive as people trooped into their offices inside the skyscrapers to begin the day’s work. In the background played the theme song created by Mon del Rosario.

The music pulsated with a well-defined beat. It sounded just right to keep time with while hopefully not pounding pavements, but sashaying through the city’s streets on the way to success. It was modern, inspiring and very go-go-go. But I must say never brusque, as hints of strings in the background brought a feminine touch to the arrangement. This was only appropriate for Working Girls was a movie about women in the work force.

Directed by National Ishmael Bernal and written by Amado Lacuesta Working Girls had a star-studded cast that included Hilda Koronel, Chanda Romero, Rio Locsin, Carmi Martin, Maria Isabel Lopez, Baby Delgado and in a rousing comeback, Gina Pareno. It was a humorous but insightful look into the lives of women trying to make a living in the big city and coping with all the prejudice life bestows on them because of their sex. Of course it also delved into their loves, their dreams, their weaknesses, etc. etc.

It was everything familiar about women. One girl sees her fulfillment in becoming part of the business district of Makati. I’m a Makati girl now. For another, it is marriage or at the very least to be provided for by a rich man. For one more, it is an understanding husband who will share her success in a man’s world. And so forth. Working Girls presented a lot of those and the women who watched laughed a lot but found themselves in the picture too.

Fast forward to this year. There is a new Working Girls movie. Joey Reyes has written and directed a sequel to the Bernal classic. This is no remake. Even somebody as able as Reyes will not attempt to do that with a Bernal film. This story is set in a real time frame and revisits some of the original working girls 25 years later.

One is the call girl who is now a militant feminist leader played once more by Maria Isabel. She was a 25-year-old Binibining Pilipinas title holder when she did the picture. Another is the secretary who remains in search of a rich husband or again, providers, played by lovely dramatic actress Carmi Martin. She is the one who nowadays flaunts her 26-inch waistline, wearing a swimsuit in ads for beauty treatments.

Also back in the same roles as in the original are award-winners Gina Pareno and Rio Locsin. And then there are the new girls, who might be doing better than their predecessors as working girls but are still contending with similar social prejudices and relationship problems with men. These are played by Ruffa Gutierrez, Eugene Domingo, Iza Calzado, Jennylyn Mercado, Bianca King, Eula Valdez and Cristine Reyes.

Then there is the famous Working Girls theme. The original by the late Chona Cruz still works for me. Try and see how well it plays in your head while walking city streets. But this is 25 years later and if the characters have been brought up to date, then so must the theme song. Producer Marcus Davis was called in to give the song an R&B twist and it was recorded by the exciting all-female group Eurasia for their debut album.

Summer with Mr. C

You can make this one a truly enjoyable and I must add productive summer by joining the Summer Workshops at the Music School of Ryan Cayabyab. Enrolment is now going on for courses for children, teens and adults in Muziktheatre, Muzikgarten, 14-K and vocal workshops with Julliard alumna Clarissa Ocampo. Individual lessons in voice, piano, guitar, violin and drums are available all year round.

The Music School of Ryan Cayabyab is located at the lower level of the Robinson’s Galleria on Ortigas Avenue. Call numbers 637-9840, 914-5055 or 0917-9096484 for details. Summer Workshop classes started last Monday, April 12, but who knows there might still be room for one or two more students.