Oprah Winfrey among big-name Tony Award presenters

NEW YORK — James Corden will have some big names helping him hand out Tony Awards: Oprah Winfrey, Cate Blanchett, Carole King, Audra McDonald, Saoirse Ronan, Patina Miller and Nathan Lane have signed up to help present.

Corden, a Tony-winner and the host of CBS’s “The Late Late Show” will make his debut as the emcee June 12 at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. It will be televised on CBS starting at 7 p.m.

Comedy god Steve Martin and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Edie Brickell will also help present. The pair is up for a Tony as the writers of the musical “Bright Star,” a complex love story set against the American South.

Chicago will be well-represented at this year’s awards ceremony. Actress (and Evanston native) Jessie Mueller is nominated for her role in “Waitress.” Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble member Laurie Metcalf received a nomination for best leading actress in a play for “Misery.” Michael Shannon (one of the co-founders of A Red Orchid Theatre) was nominated for best supporting actor for the revival of “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.” Stephen Karam’s “The Humans” (which received its world premiere in 2014 in Chicago at American Theater Company) is among the nominees for best play.

Contributing: Sun-Times staff reporter Miriam Di Nunzio