A starry roster of film, television and theater actors — including Naomi Watts, David Hyde Pierce, Liev Schreiber, Michael Potts and Jane Curtin — will read from E. B. White’s stories and poetry at Symphony Space on Nov. 16. The program, “Terrific Tails: A Celebration of E. B. White,” is a collaboration between Symphony Space; the Manhattan branch of First Book, an organization that provides new books to disadvantaged children; and Harper Collins.
“Terrific Tails” is a followup to a similar program Symphony Space and First Book presented last year, built around celebrity readings of stories by Roald Dahl, and like last year’s program, it is a benefit for First Book’s programs.
White, who died in 1985, was known for his witty New Yorker essays, his classic children’s books, which include “Charlotte’s Web,” “Stuart Little” and “The Trumpet of the Swan,” and his expanded revision of “The Elements of Style,” William Strunk Jr.’s timeless guide to literary clarity, for which White now shares a byline.
White’s granddaughter, Martha White, and his stepson, the revered sports essayist Roger Angell, will also speak, and Scollay Square, a barbershop quartet, will perform songs based on “Charlotte’s Web.” Jarrett J. Krosoczka, a children’s book author and illustrator, will be the host.