DON’T MISS!: FRONT LINE
Sebastian Junger doesn’t drink on the job; that would have been a good way to get himself killed on his reporting trips to Afghanistan. After work is a different story.
“You have to wake up clear-headed in the morning,” says Junger, 51, who’s earned his drinks by writing books such as “The Perfect Storm” and the Oscar-nominated documentary “Restrepo.” “It definitely is a stress reliever. Some of this reporting is incredibly stressful.”
You can hear Junger’s stories from the front lines — and tip a beer with him — at Wednesday’s launch of Brooklyn Brewery’s war correspondents speaking series. Junger will talk about the risks facing reporters in places like Syria in conversation with brewery co-founder Steve Hindy — a former Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press. 7:30 p.m. at Brooklyn Brewery, 79 N. 11th St., Williamsburg; togather.com/event/420. Proceeds from the $15 admission (a beer included) go to nonprofit Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues, which gives freelance war reporters vital medical training and equipment.
— Tim Donnelly
Tim Hetherington
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CHECK IT OUT!: FIELD OF SCREAMS
Long before Andy Warhol was fruitful and multiplied, Edvard Munch was making umpteen variations on his favorite motifs: anxiety and alienation, sex and death. Or, as we know them today, “The Scream” and “Madonna.” There are several versions of both, plus Munch’s brooding self-portrait (with skeleton) at Scandinavia House’s exquisite new show “Munch/Warhol and the Multiple Image.” Here, the moody Norwegian’s originals fill the first gallery, followed by several rooms of Warhol’s large-screen, day-glo variations. A gallery had commissioned his Munch homages in the 1980s, says curator Patricia Berman, for a portfolio of prints. But Warhol died before the prints were ever made, and so, instead of multiples, these are all singular — and sensational.
Once you see Warhol’s magenta skies, graffiti-like tracings and eerie homages, Berman promises, “You’ll never see Munch the same way again.” Admission, $5, $3 for students and seniors.58 Park Ave., at 38th Street; scandinaviahouse.org.
— Barbara Hoffman
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LISTEN TO THIS!: DRUM ROLE
There must be a lot of issues for a young tabla player whose father is a top tabla guru. “It is complicated,” concedes Rushi Vakil, who’s part of the Talavya ensemble with four musicians each on a traditional Indian drum.
“To have a guru as your father always means that a lot is expected from you, and everything you do is always the center of attraction of everyone.”
The rotating performers in the group have all been taught by Vakil’s father, Pandit Divyang Vakil, who also composes for Talavya.
The younger Vakil, who is 28, has been banging the drum for 26 years. (He is also a world music composer whose work will be on an upcoming Cartoon Network project.)
He says the ensemble “helps educate the people who don’t know anything about tabla. Every show that we do we have people cheering and screaming like they would do at a rock concert.”
See for yourself tonight at 9:30 at Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette St.; 212-539-8778.
— Billy Heller
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WATCH IT!: TAKES A VILLAGE
“I knew it would be controversial, but not to this extent, nor did I believe it would trigger violence against gays. And it didn’t.” That’s director William Friedkin, writing in his new memoir, “The Friedkin Connection,” about his heavily protested “Cruising” (1980). It stars Al Pacino as an NYPD detective tracking a serial killer through gay hangouts like the West Village S&M club the Mineshaft, where, Friedkin says, “The club regulars were paid as extras, since no Screen Extras Guild members could be asked, nor would they be able to simulate what took place there.” Friedkin, who also directed “The Exorcist” and “The French Connection,” will participate in a Q&A session following a rare screening of “Cruising” at 7 tonight, co-presented by the Warner Archive Collection, at BAM Rose Cinemas, Lafayette Avenue and Ashland Place, Fort Greene. Info: bam.org.
— Lou Lumenick
United Artists/courtesy Everett
