The image above is not the official poster for our production, but I created it as an exercise in visualizing the theme of this play.

Tom Fulton as Emile, Joan Ellison as Nellie








Joan Ellison as Nellie

CLIMATE
Vanuatu's weather is warm and humid, but winter temperatures do moderate some because of the prevailing southeasterly trade winds. As a general rule, the southern islands are cooler and drier than those of the north.

December through March is the cyclone season, with hot and rainy conditions throughout the islands.

Note that Vanuatu's seasons are just the opposite of those in the Northern Hemisphere, as Spring is ( Sept-Nov ), Summer is ( Dec-Feb ), Fall is ( Mar-May ) and Winter is ( Jun-Aug ).

Santo was also famous as a military base during World War II, when up to 100,000 soldiers were based in Luganville. Left behind were many buildings, a total of four airstrip and coral roads which are still in use today. (See History of New Hebrides and Santo)

Joan Ellison as Nellie


SOUTH PACIFIC
At the TRI-C Eastern Campus
Produced by The JCC,
As A Major Production in its 2005-06 Season,
in Association with Tri-C Eastern Theatre Arts
October 15 - November 5, 2005


When: October 15 - November 6, 2005
Directed by Fred Sternfeld
Cast and Production Notes

Naomi Hill as Ngana, Tom Fulton as Emile, Ko-Rhee Lovett as Jerome

Notes on South Pacific

The activities in the play take place in November, near Thanksgiving in 1942 on Espirito Santo, an island in the “New Hebrides”, north east of Australia – just north of New Caledonia . In 1942 the New Hebrides were a French Territory . It has since been given its independence and is now called Vanuatu .  ("Vahn-oo-ah-too")

During World War II, James A Michener, then a lieutenant in the American Army, was stationed in Santo. Such was the effect of this place on him that here he wrote the legendary Tales of the South Pacific from which sprang the musical South Pacific. From Santo, Michener would gaze across the sea to a volcanic island, often with its summit shrouded in cloud and dream of "Bali Hai". On a clear day the sight of Bali Hai, or the island of AMBAE still beckons the imagination of the romantic soul.

Santo is Vanuatu's largest island, is fascinating in its diversity. In Luganville, the second biggest town in Vanuatu, there is a quiet pace of life.

GEOGRAPHY
Due to its size and its mountains, Santo has the greatest expanses of original rainforest and is home to colourful butterflies, tropical birds and beautiful orchids. Natural spots of great beauty include the stunning Champagne Beach (below), in the north and the deep, crystal clear Blue Hole whose cool spring water is a bright azure colour and is great for a refreshing dip. 

Nellie's path to Santo
In the Michener book “Tales of the South Pacific” Nellie Forbush arrives on the island of Efate , which sits in the southern group of the New Hebrides.

It is there she meets her friend Dinah and has a rather ugly affair with Lieutenant Bill Harbison, who lives like a hero, but turns out to be a louse. After a torrid affair, she finds out that he is married. And the affair ends.

She is feeling used and unsettled when her friend Dinah arranges to have her sent north to a navy base on an island that Michener does not name, but in fact is Espiritu Santo (which serves as the inspiration for the events in the play.)

Emile de Becque and Nellie
It is on Espiritu Santo, the largest of the New Hebrides islands, that she meets Emile de Becque, who is a plantation owner there.

Emile “had long arms and wrists, and although he used his hands constantly in making conversation, they were relaxed and delicate in their movements. He had a gold tooth in the front of his smile, but it did not detract from his strong features."

Emile came to the island when he was 23 and has become a quiet force behind the politics there. When there is concern that the Japs may invade the New Hebrides , Emile becomes the defacto resistance leader. The invasion never comes, but the threat of it is forever hanging over their heads.

As in the play Emile and Nellie fall in love almost immediately. There are lovely descriptions of their early time together. Nellie, still a bit numb from her aborted relationship with Harbison is understandably concerned that history might repeat itself. After having kissed him for the first time and after his intimations that she should come live with him, she is pensive but feeling very much like she is in the arms of a man ‘worthy to be loved.'

”As she rose, standing beside him, she noticed that her nose came to his shoulder. Standing there, with it pressed against his moist shirt, she asked, “Are you married, Emile?”

“No.” he replied.

“I'm so glad,” she murmured, pressing her funny nose deep into his shoulder. He patted her on the head and led the way down the long path that wound among the coconuts.

In the book, Emile has been involved with four women before he meets Nellie and has had children with all of them. In fact, he has 8 children. His oldest daughter, Latouche, is 23 years old. She is the daughter of his first ‘love' who was Javanese. He has three other daughters by another Javanese woman. And he has four other daughters (the ones he introduces to Nellie), more beautiful than their sisters. The mothers of these girls are Polynesian and Tonkinese.

“They're my daughters,” De Becque said proudly, “I have four others. They live in Luana Pori with their married sister. I have their pictures here…. My family… I had to tell you first.”

Nellie is particularly disturbed at first by the Polynesian children who are “round of face and darker than their sisters. Their eyes were black as pools at night, their hair the same, long and straight even in pigtails.” Before she comes to her senses she is repulsed by the thought of the children and the intimate relationship between Emile and the Polynesian woman who bore them.

“But before here were other indisputable facts! Two of them! Emlie De Becque, not satisfied with Javanese and Tonkinese women, had also lived with a Polynesian. A nigger! To Nellie's tutored mind any person living or dead who was not white or yellow was a nigger. And beyond that no words could go! Her entire Arkansas upbringing made it impossible for her to deny the teachings of her youth. Emile De Becque had lived with the nigger. He had nigger children. If she married him, they would be her step-daughters.”

After leaving him and much soul searching, her epiphany and her realization of her own shallow bigotry comes to her as follows in a soul searching conversation with her friend, Dinah.  The scene begins as they are looking at the picture of Emile's daughters Emile gave her.

“What lovely girls!” Dina said.

Nellie stopped laughing. She looked over Dinah's shoulder. They were lovely girls. Look at Latouche! Winsome and confident. Her three sisters, too. Calm, happy cocky young girls. They seemed to be afraid of nothing. They seemed like their father. ‘

“They are like De Becque!” Nellie said in a whisper.

”What did you say?” Dinah asked.

“Look, Dinah! Look at them! How much fun they seem to have!”

”You'd never have a bored moment around them,” Dinah replied sagaciously.

”And the four little girls! Dinah, they're sweet. And s well behaved. Oh damn it all!” Nurse Forbush walked up and down. She saw her letter to Charlie in the corner. “Damn it all!” she cried again, kicking at the letter.

“Very reasonable behavior!” Dinah laughed. “For a little heroine!”

”What's the use of bluffing, Dinah?” Nellie confessed. She ran over to the older nurse.

“Now I have made up my mind. I want to marry him .. so very much!” She started crying and sank her head on Dinah's shoulder. Dinah thereupon consoled her by crying too. In mutual happiness they blubbered for a while.

“I think your mind is made up the right way this time,” Dinah whispered.

“Quick!” Nellie cried. “See if you can get a jeep! We've got to get one right away! I've got to tell him tonight!” She hurried about the room getting her clothes together. “Oh, Dinah!” she chortled. “Think what it will be like! A big family in a big house! Eight daughters, and they're darlings. I don't care who he's lived with. I've got me a man! My mind's made up. Mom was right. Wait till the last minute!”

The Tonkinese.
The Tonkinese are brought out to the plantations to work the coconuts and coffee. The come from Tonkin China , which is now Vietnam , which was a French possession as well. They come for three or five years. French government provides passage. Then they're indentured to the Plantation owners, who promise to feed them, clothe them, give them medical care. They are paid about 90 dollars a year. Because all of their living expenses are paid for, that $90.00 is almost all profit. Then after their indenture is up, they usually return to Tonkin , rich people in their country if they've saved their pay.

This economical system works very well until a couple hundred thousand American soldiers appear with more money than they can spend. And everyone wants a grass skirt. So a Tonkinese woman, if she works hard can make eight skirts a week. This is the enterprise Bloody Mary is managing – paying the girls as much in a month as they can earn in a year under the indentured servant agreement. It's raising havoc with the plantation owners. “So the plantation French went to the guv'mint and said,

‘See here. We got our rights. These Tonks is indentured to us. They got to work for us.' And strike me dead if they didn't pass a law that no Tonk could sell grass skirts ‘ceptin' only to plantation owners. And only plantation owners could sell them to Americans!"

The Navy has no luck trying to stop Bloody Mary from selling the skirts. They manage to get her off of Navy Property and onto Marine Corps property. Then they call the Marines and say “Get the Tonkinese woman known as Bloody Mary to hell off of your property and keep her off.”

The next morning First Lieutenant Joe Cable, USMCR, form Philadelphia , was given the job of riding herd on one Bloody Mary. That's where our play begins and why they want Bloody Mary to stop selling skirts.

Bali-ha'i

“It was here on Bali-ha'i, within the protecting arm of Vanicoro, that the women of the islands lived. The French, with Gallic foresight and knowledge in these things, had housed on this haven of the seas all young women from the islands. Every girl, no matter how ugly or what her color, who might normally be raped by Americans was hidden on Bali-ha'i.”

James Michener immortalized the island of Ambae in W.W.II when , from his post on Espiritu Santo, he watched it mysteriously disappear in the morning mist - the magical island of Bali Hai was born in his imagination.

Bali Hai - Ambae...for a generation or more it has conjured visions of mystique, of a magical primitive Paradise. Ambae is an exceptionally beautiful island and its legendary disappearing act is quite true. When seen from the East coast of Santo, the island is a clear blue pyramid rising from the ocean in the early morning light. But as the sun climbs higher, except for rare, clear days, the island quickly disappears behind a glare of sea haze.

Ambae's pyramid shape is due to its volcanic origins. The island is a large semi-active shield volcano rising to 1496m above sea level. It's Vanuatu's second highest island with crater lakes on the summit and cloud forests on the upper slopes. East Ambae is wet and the west is a rain-shadow area.

The photo to the left is of the island of Guau, about 50 miles northeast of Santo, and may have served as inspiration for Vanocuro.

Gaua has a stunning landscape with an active volcano which towers over a crater lake. The ascent to the crater lake can take up to 4 hours. . The island sports beautiful sulphur coloured waters of Lake Letes. This overflows into an impressive waterfall some 4 hours walk from the crater lake. Gaua has had at least 13 eruptions from Mt. Garat since 1963.

It's important to note that the New Hebrides saw little or no action during the war. They were part of the supply route for the soldiers fighting in the Coral sea in New Guinea and northward in the Solomon Islands where some of the bloodiest battle took place like Guadal Canal . Men where driven mad with the waiting. “The waiting. The timeless repetitive waiting.” There were many suicides. Men stole away on boats just to get off the ‘rock'. They drank 'torpedo juice'. They put on entertainments – and after enough liquor and enough loneliness they roved sometimes in packs of three or four and attacked nurses or native women and raped them. The waiting, the booze, the loneliness played real mind games on guys who would never have thought of such a thing before being stationed here. There is real tension, real political and emotional tension rumbling in and around the men as they laugh and try to keep sane.

Bali-ha'i becomes like a drug. The thought of the beautiful island filled with beautiful young women make it the island in the song… “Bali-ha'i will call you… “ Indeed!

Bali-ha'i sits in front of a set of another island which has two volcanoes. It's 16 miles east of Espiritu Santo . Both names used in the book “Vanicoro” and “Bali-ha'i” are fictional names. But if you look at the maps above, you can see that the only set of islands that fit the description of islands in terms of distance and relationship to each other are the two islands just east of Espiritu Santo called: Maewo. Whether this is actual or not, it gives us a good geographical sense of the world we all will be living in. When you read the description of the view from de Becque's veranda, you see that his estate must be located on the upper tip of Espirito Santo overlooking the bay, the ocean, the twin peaks of Vanicoro and “Bali-ha-i”. Further, it is clear that the Navy base must be on the southern Bay of Espirto Santo , from which Vanicoro and Bali-ha'i can be seen. See the map below. It will give you a good sense of how this is all located.

You can also see that the New Hebrides are not that far from Australia . So Emile's promise to Nelly that she can go to Australia in the summer months when it gets too hot makes sense.

The Boar's Tooth.
Luther Billis pays $100.00 for a boars tooth. Which seems outrageous – but when you read about the significance of this ‘tooth' and how it is created, it makes sense. The natives on Vanicoro worship boars. Each important family owns one. The tusks of the Boars are encouraged to grow for 7 or eight years before the boar is butchered and given away to others in a religious ceremony. The tusks are tied and encourage to curl back on themselves until they actually begin to grow back into the skull of the boar. This is a horrible torture for the animal who lives in pain for many years as the tusk is encouraged to literally grow through the skull and pass back through to create a ‘double circle.' The best boars tusk or ‘tooth' would be one that is double circled and caused the most spiritual suffering for the boar and the tribe. In a strange correlation to Christianity the suffering of the boar has spiritual significance and a sense of redemption for the tribe. Luther knows this and has witnessed the sacrificial rituals and is therefore astounded to see one of these tusks the Bloody Mary has for sale.

“Whereas the first was dirty and crude, this one was a pale, golden ivory, soft to the eye and lustrous. It curled in a circle and seemed one of the finest bracelets Tony had ever seen. It was solid ivory. “

“Them natives have a secret way of getting the enamel off. “ They were like something from Greek legend. $100.00 is cheap.

Luther Billis

“The SeaBee was big, fat, and brown. He wore a gold ring in his left ear and several bracelets. He was beautifully tattooed. Billis was accompanied by a young Jewish boy who trailed along behind him…. Billis thought there was a God and after the war there would be a big boom in aviation. “

“Luther was what we call in the Navy a “big dealer.” Ten minutes after he arrived at a station he knew where to buy illicit beer, how to finagle extra desserts, what would be playing at the movies three weeks hence, and how to avoid night duty.”

“The fat SeaBee was energetic and imaginative. He looked like something out of Treasure Island . He had a sagging belly that ran over his belt by three flabby inches. He rarely wore a shirt and was tanned a dark brown. His hair was long, and in his left ear he wore a thin golden ring. The custom was prevalent in the South Pacific and was a throwback to the pirate days.”

“He was liberally tattooed. On each breast was a fine dove, flying toward his heart. His left arm contained a python curled around his muscles and biting savagely at his thumb. His right arm had two designs: Death Rather Than Dishonor and Thinking of Home and Mother. Like the natives, Luther wore a sprig of frangipani in his hair. .. On his left arm Billis wore an aluminum watch band, a heavy silver slave bracelet with is name engraved and a superb wire circlet made of woven airplane wire welded and hammered flat. On his right wrist he had a simmering copper bracelet on which his social security and service numbers were engraved. And he wore a fine boar's tusk. "

 

Frangipani

Frangipani is a flower that looks much like a dogwood blossom. The four leafed, white and yellow flowers were worn in the hair by native men and women. Billis wears one in his hair, and perhaps Emile as well as a flirtation. The smell of the flower is delightful. It has the odor of the jungle. It is sweet, distant, and permeating. In addition it has a slightly aphrodisiac quality, a fact which natives learned long ago. De Becque has learned it as well….

Betel Nuts
"Bloody Mary's chewing betel nuts..."

The betel nut is the fruit of a palm, Areca catechu Linnaeus. The palm is believed native to the Malay Peninsula, but the plant has been transported and cultivated throughout the Pacific for so long that no one is truly certain of its origins. The betel nut contains a stimulant, arecoline, an alkaloid which affects the nervous system similar to the action nicotine. The arecoline effect is highly complex and includes constriction of the pupil, decreased heart output, stimulation of various glands, and vasodilation (widening of the interior of the blood vessels)

However, Bloody Mary is probably chewing "betel": a simple preparation of betel nut, betel leaf, a relative of black pepper, and slaked lime. More of the alkaloid is released and much quicker. Therefore, "betel" is more psychoactive and is said quite addictive.

Chewing betel nuts stains the teeth and gums red. The nuts are astringent and possibly help protect the teeth from caries (cavities). In many cultures, the teeth stained red, black, or even patterned indicated marriageability or coming of age. Betel nuts were also said to sweeten the breath and aid digestion through stimulating the glands associated with the GI tract.

The chief purpose for which betel nuts are cultivated and collected is for chewing; their use in this form being so widespread among Oriental nations that it is estimated that one tenth of the whole human family indulge in betel chewing.

For this use the fruits are annually gathered between the months of August and November, before they are quite ripe, and deprived of their husks. They are prepared by boiling in water, cutting up into slices, and drying in the sun, by which treatment the slices assume a dark brown or black color. When chewed a small piece is wrapped up in a leaf of the betel vine or pan, with a pellet of shell lime or chunam; and in some cases a little cardamom, turmeric or other aromatic is added. The mastication causes a copious flow of saliva of a brick-red color, which dyes the mouth, lips and gums. The habit blackens the teeth, but it is asserted by those addicted to it that it strengthens the gums, sweetens the breath and stimulates the digestive organs.

The Seabees
The official motto of the Seabees , the United States Navy Construction Battalions, is " Construimus, Batuimus "—"We Build, We Fight." Unofficially, their motto is even simpler: "Can Do!"

From the island-hopping of World War II and the cold of Korea , to the jungles of Vietnam , to the mountains of Bosnia , and to the desert of Afghanistan , the Seabees have built bases, bulldozed and paved thousands of miles of roadway and airstrips, and accomplished a myriad of construction projects.

In December 1941 , with an eye on the developing storm clouds across both oceans, Rear Admiral Ben Moreell, Chief of the Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks, recommended establishing Naval Construction Battalions. With the attack on Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entrance into the war, he was given the go-ahead. The earliest Seabees were recruited from the civilian construction trades and were placed under the leadership of the Navy's Civil Engineer Corps. Because of the emphasis on experience and skill rather than on physical standards, the average age of Seabees during the early days of the war was 37.

More than 325,000 men served with the Seabees in World War II , fighting and building on six continents and more than 300 islands. In the Pacific, where most of the construction work was needed, the Seabees landed soon after the Marines and built major airstrips, bridges, roads, gasoline storage tanks, and quonset huts for warehouses, hospitals, and housing.

Why South Pacific – AGAIN?

I have been thinking a lot about this issue since Fred asked me to play Emile. I played the role in 1991 at Cain Park in a wonderful production with Mary Ann Nagel as Nelly and Greg Violand as Lt. Cable, both of whom, in my opinion, played brilliantly.

Mary Ann brought such joy and love to the part, she was irresistible and made my job as the French guy that wanders in and out singing those songs a lot easier. I remember with admiration and respect the way Greg managed the bitterness of “You've Got to Be Carefully Taught and his incomparable “Younger than Springtime..”

That production was my first venture back into a musical after lots of straight stuff, heavy dramas and classics – and I was not at all sure of myself vocally. Luckily David Gooding was the music director and he literally taught me how to use my voice for those two incredible songs. I studied with Mr. Gooding for several years after that and owe him much for giving me the awareness of how my voice works.

I came into South Pacific with a bit of a snob's attitude about doing ‘South Pathetic', as someone I know recently dubbed the play. (I was always secretly amused by Christopher Plummer's christening of Sound of Music as 'Sound of Mucous…') What I was not prepared for was how seductive the genius of Rodgers and Hammerstein would be. Not only was the music beautiful, moving and integrated into the action of the play, James Michener's themes of racism and bigotry; the brotherhood of humankind; the effects of war, violence, exploitation, and authoritarianism on the human psyche resonate throughout the script. The human themes of mature love, of loneliness, of the resilient struggle to rise above our prejudice are so brilliantly woven into every thread of the fabric of the play, that my arrogant resistance to the play was trounced. Since then I have felt a wealth of gratitude for the opportunity to play Emile.

As young man, I loved musicals. I spent my high school afternoons acting them. I directed 5 or 6 before I was 19. But when I began to study seriously, I started to view them as the silly things of my youth and I put them aside for the ‘big guns' of Anton Chekhov, David Rabe, Marsha Norman and William Shakespeare. South Pacific changed all of that for me and catapulted the ‘musical' back into my wish list of professional aspirations.  Since then I have played in a number of great musicals and now count Emile de Becque, Don Quixote, and Tevye as some of my cherished moments as an actor; up there with King Lear, Doctor Astrov in The Cherry Orchard and George in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

I now look forward instead of back to another opportunity to visit Bali-hi; To meet Nelly Forbush again (this time played by the lovely and multi-talented Joan Ellison - a role made for her!); to be lifted -again - on the beautiful wings of Rodgers and Hammerstein's music; to discover the role –again- with more maturity and with humble appreciation of the play. And, of course, I go forward confidently knowing that Mr Sternfeld, whose sure hand in this kind of theatre is well known and is ‘sure' because of the respect he has for illuminating the theme through honest and passionate action. The challenge is a good one: to rediscover the play as if for the first time; to transport our audience into a time - into a war - that was both horrible and profound in it's implications both for the world and – for the human heart.

Tom Fulton
June 8, 2005

OUR CAST AND CREW FOR THE 2005 PRODUCTION

Production Staff
Director, Producer -- Fred Sternfeld **
Associate Producer -- Brian Zoldessy
Choreographer -- Martin Cespedes
Vocal Director -- Heidi Herczeg
Orchestra Director -- Larry Goodpaster
Set Designer / Technical Director -- Ben Needham
Costume Designer -- Esther Montgomery
Lighting Designer -- Trad A. Burns
Sound Effects & Amplification -- Casey Jones
Production Stage Manager -- Sean Szaller
Assistant Stage Managers -- Kevin Rutan, Chris Grunau
Assistant Costumer / Wardrobe -- Deanna Cechowski
Properties -- Sharon Epstein
Master Carpenter -- Paul Gatzke
Scenic Artist -- Heather Cool
CCC East in-house TD -- Martin Bluestein

Cast of Characters
Ngana – Naomi Hill
Jerome – Ko-Rhee Lovett
Henry – Joey Cayabyab
Ensign Nellie Forbush – Joan Ellison
Emile de Becque – Tom Fulton *
Bloody Mary – Cheryl J. Campo
Bloody Mary's Assistant -- Samuel A. Stone
Liat – Kristy Chen
Luther Billis –
Stewpot – Joe Fornadel
Professor -- Sean Szaller
Lt. Joseph Cable, U.S.M.C. -- Colin Cook
Capt. George Brackett, U.S.N. -- John Lynch
Commdr. Willliam Harbison, U.S.N. – Kirk Brown
Radio Operator Bob McCaffrey – Ben Drenik
Lt. Buzz Adams – Darryl Lewis
Seaman Tom O'Brien -- Bob Abelman
Sgt. Kenneth Johnson -- David Erdei
Pte. Victor Jerome -- Jeffrey E. Braun
Marine Cpl. Hamilton Steeves -- Michael Rogan
Pte. Sven Larson -- Frank Wilson
Yeoman Herbert Quale -- Jason Modica
Seabee Richard West -- Marvin L. Mallory
Staff-Sgt. Thomas Hassinger -- Jason Michael Kulnane
Sgt. Jack Waters -- Don Pedley
Seabee Morton Wise -- Steven Ritz
Abner – Andrew Parmelee
Marcel -- Assad Khaishgi

Nurses
Lt. Genevieve Marshall -- Bernadette Hisey
Ensign Pamela Whitmore -- Lesley Dohrn
Ensign Dinah Murphy -- Courtney Schloss
Ensign Janet McGregor -- Lauren Skirbunt
Ensign Lisa Manelli -- Caitlin Coleman
Ensign Connie Walewska -- Melissa Smith-Beudert
Ensign Bessie Noonan -- Shaina Vencel
Ensign Catherine Parkman -- Kat Clover
Ensign Rita Adams -- Amanda Fertal
Ensign Sue Yaeger -- Alexandra E. May
Ensign Betty Pitt -- Sara Rouse
Ensign Cora MacRae -- Monique MacGregor
Ensign Jennifer Stanley -- Rachel Galambos
Ensign Patricia Jones -- Jennifer Hoffman
Ensign Jane Hoffman -- Beverly Simmons

Native Islanders
Temana - Chris Nguyen
Fetia - Thuy Ai Nguyen
Manava - Wendy L. Temple
Teiki - Elliot Stone
Aitu - Joey Cayabyab
Marcel - Assad Khaishgi
Uranui - Samuel A. Stone
Hoani - Ailani Lovett
Maeva - Jennifer Nee
Tehani - Caitlyn McGinnis
Puatea - Eden Raiz
Marania - Leah Tater

French daughters of Plantation Owners
Bridgette - Julia Wilson
Adele - Rachel Galambos
Charlotte - Shaina Vencel
Desiree - Kat Clover
Gabrielle - Jennifer Hoffman
Jeanette - Alexandra E. May

Nuns
Sister Catherina - Beverly Simmons
Sister Violetta - Lesley A. Dohrn
Sister Mary Joseph - Bernadette Hisey

*member - Actors Equity Association
**member - SSDC: Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers

No wonder Nellie Likes him!