Steven Bogart directs the environmental staging of the dark musical that will run through Oct. 29 at A.R.T.'s Oberon. Cabaret will officially open Sept. 8.

Palmer, best known as a performance artist, musician and half of the Brechtian duo The Dresden Dolls, inhabits the role made famous by Joel Grey in the original Broadway production.

The A.R.T. production also features Aly Trasher as entertainer Sally Bowles, Matt Wood as writer Cliff Bradshaw, Remo Airaldi as Herr Schultz, David Costa as Ernst Ludwig, Claire Davies as Fraulein Kost, Thomas Derrah as Fraulein Schneider, and Jeremy Geidt as Max.

The ensemble includes Renee-Marie Brewster, Lucille Duncan, Tamara Hickey, Eric Johnson, Jordy Lievers, Gaetano Pugliese, Annika Franklin, Chris Thomas and Edward Walsh.

Lance Horne (The $trip) and Debra Barsha serve as musical directors, with Steven Mitchell Wright as movement director, David Israel Reynoso as set and costume designer, Nicholas D. Vargelis as lighting designer and Clive Goodwin as sound designer.

Cabaret features a book by Joe Masteroff, based on the John Van Druten play "I Am a Camera" and the original stories by Christopher Isherwood. John Kander and Fred Ebb penned the Tony-Award winning score to the musical that features such hits as "Willkommen," "So What," "Don't Tell Mama" and the title song.

Visit AmericanRepertoryTheater. A.R.T. is located at 64 Brattle Street in Cambridge, MA.