In the 1970s and 1980s, Ida Nodel was a prisoner of Zion who became one of the leaders of the protest against the Soviet regime and a symbol of the struggle of the Jews of the Soviet Union to immigrate to Israel. She was sentenced to four years of hard exile in Siberia, after which she was released, and only in 1987, when she was 56 years old and in poor health, was she allowed to immigrate to Israel. A year ago, in September 2021, she passed away at the age of 90.
“Ida Noodle’s story has been somewhat forgotten from the pages of history, even though historically it didn’t happen too long ago,” says Tal Mosari, who stars in the new play “Ida”, based on Noodle’s life story. “She is a contemporary heroine who fights against the communist regime, against the great Soviet Union, against a superpower and all in order to immigrate to Israel. Although I knew, quite distantly, her story as a child, during the rehearsals I deepened and she penetrated into my heart. The only hope I had, both as an actor and as an Israeli citizen, is that the audience would also sit under the spell of her story, be moved along with us and understand how much she was not recognized as she should have been.”
In the play about Noodle, which is being performed at the Bhima Theater on the anniversary of her death (written by: Shai Lahav, directed by: Tsadi Zarfati), Gila Almagor-Agmon (who plays Ida Noodle in the present) and Ricky Blich (Ida Noodle in the past) also participate. Mosari plays Arye Luba in it, the husband of Lena, the sister of Ida Nodel.
Why didn’t Ida get proper recognition in her life?
“This is a big question. The humbler people, the people without the elbows in the right places, are often forgotten. Ida Nodel was given a small and modest funeral without any representative from the establishment who came or thanked her for her work. When Ida got off the plane that brought her to Israel, she spoke to the President of the United States Reagan, and her picture was plastered on all the covers of the newspapers, and you will see how heroes like her were forgotten.”
between two weddings
Apart from “Ida”, Mosari, 47, is also currently acting in the play “The Music Comes Again”, for his role in which he won the actor of the year award in the theater, and in the plays “Road Signs”, “The Sixteenth Lamb” and “A Sephardic Orchard”. “At the end of November We will land on Moroccan soil with a ‘Spanish orchard,'” he says. “This is the first time that the National Theater of Israel will perform at the National Theater of Morocco, in Rabat, hosted by the King. We are excited about it.”
Also, he is currently in the middle of rehearsals for the theater’s new production, “Casablanc”, in which Itay Levy will play the lead role. “I will be in the role of Josh, the police officer who was a close friend of Casablanc from the army,” Mosari says. “I can talk about ‘Casablanca’ for hours, it’s the movie that my brother Ido and I saw over and over again as children, we remember every sentence in this movie.”
Tal Mosari in the play “Ida” (photo: Rudy Rubinstein)If all this is not enough, then Mosari is already preparing for a new Hanukkah production “Small Gifts”, based on songs by Rami Klinstein and Noam Horev. “I really like Rami Klinstein, so for me it will be great fun to go on stage with him and make him accessible to the children’s audience” , He says.
In the last year, Mosari also returned to host the children’s channel, six years after leaving it, where he presents “Shastos” and one of the channel’s flagship programs, “The Boys and the Girls”. “It’s like riding a bicycle,” he says. “This is really my home. The children’s channel is a part of my life. For 18 years I was on the children’s channel, the oldest host on the channel, and now two more years, that is, 20 years on the channel. For me, the channel is a great love It was going back to everything I know from the channel’s golden age, and I’m happy that the channel is bringing back the classic programs that brought up generations of children here. I’m happy to be back home.”
What has changed in the children’s world over the years?
“The children have improved. Once the children’s channel was the only option for children. Today, the children’s channel is looked at with some nostalgia, as the highest quality, safe and fun content for children, when all around is Tiktok, Instagram and social networks. When the channel was established, a voice rose up and said: ‘Oh my God, what is this young channel and the girls dressed like that and the boys who host like that. It’s going to destroy the generation.’ You need to relax with these statements. A generation of children has arisen here that is smart, curious and much more socially and politically involved. It is true that today to reach children you have to use other methods: maybe the content is shorter and the language has changed a bit, but in the end children like the same thing. They want to be spoken to at eye level, they want to be real with them, they want to be moved and made to laugh, and a good story and script will always win and touch the right places in the heart. This is my job and I really enjoy continuing it.”
the right timing
Mosari began his career as a child in the band “Tel Aviv Youth” and in the 1990s participated in programs such as “Taking the Head”, “Does Not Include a Service” and “Reading Direction”. In 1997 he joined the Children’s Channel and developed an extensive career as a presenter in the channel’s leading programs and as an actor in series The leading children and youth (“The Eight”, “Gallis”, “The Island” and more), this alongside a host of festivals and children’s and youth shows. In 2015 he left the channel. “All my life I have always skipped between two weddings,” he says.
“Both the children’s world and the world of entertainment: I was in ‘Tel Aviv Youth’ and ‘Without Service’ and female fans screamed and fainted at the performances, and at the same time I worked in ‘Thelma Yellin’ with material by Shakespeare and Chekhov. I remember that my teachers at the time didn’t like the fact that I was on ‘Tel Aviv Youth’ and on TV, but I always thought that you should do what you love. It’s hard for me to leave the children’s world because it also keeps me a child and it’s also an audience I love. I really like the area, the meeting with the children and the audience, and I also wanted to show more sides of me. In ‘Ida’, for example, it is my first role in the theater without singing, which shows my dramatic side. Sometimes the audience brands you and doesn’t know what qualities you have, and I’m happy that I can still innovate for the audience. The desire to challenge the audience and me, to surprise the audience and me – is what keeps me alive.”
Tal Mosari on the children’s channel (photo: screenshot)You are a father of three. Has fatherhood changed your attitude towards children?
“Obviously. When you are a young host without children on the children’s channel, then you have a certain responsibility, but when you become a father yourself, which is an exciting and amazing thing in itself, you suddenly understand what this responsibility is to appear to children, to speak to children. Children pick up not only what you say, but also what you don’t say sometimes. They hear the subtext, experience your energy and look. The children are an audience that cannot be worked on, they cannot accept a fake. When you are a father of children you understand the responsibility you have as a children’s artist. I’m happy that my children enjoy things I did in the past and that I do in the present.”
What is the difference between being a child star and being a star for adults?
“Only in the last six months did I understand the difference. As an adult star, you can win an Ophir award and play amazing and exciting characters, and the audience will love you and even compliment you when you walk down the street and move on to the next thing. When you are a child star, you really burn something in the child’s soul that goes with him for life. You will always be there with him in all moments.”
How do you manage to combine the intense work and family life?
“I’ve just gone through a really crazy summer, lots of performances all over the country and rehearsals for theater plays and filming for the children’s channel and other series. My son, 5-year-old Yam, said to me one morning in the middle of the summer: ‘Dad, aren’t you with us today too?’ This is a difficult and painful sentence. But I really like my job and feel it is a sense of mission. During the Corona period I was at home for too much time and I was waiting for this meeting with the audience. All my life I worked with high energy and many things at the same time, and now the holidays have arrived so I manage to find more time for the family. There is no doubt that the family pays a price, but they see their father working and succeeding. When we pass on the street and someone approaches me and compliments me, then my children are filled with pride.”
What is your next professional fantasy?
“So many people I’ve worked with have had their moments of glory and gone, so my big fantasy is that it will continue. Of course there are a lot of other things I haven’t done like a movie, an interesting role in a series for adults. I hope I have more to show in these channels as well. With all my experience in guiding – I would also love to return and guide a program for adults. Maybe in prime time. It’s always good to dream, and I hope that part of it will come true for next year.”
Is there talk of a collaboration with your brother, the actor Ido Mosari?
“I wish In the end, you have to find the most accurate and correct thing, and also the right timing to cooperate. Maybe on stage in the theater, maybe in the cinema, maybe in the series. We are thinking about it, but we haven’t found the exact right thing yet. Hopefully it will happen soon.”
Ido Mosari (Photo: Nir Kider)