Sienna Miller, currently on screen in “American Sniper” and “Foxcatcher,” will be the latest actor to assay the classic role of Sally Bowles, taking over for Emma Stone on February 17 in the revival of “Cabaret” at the Roundabout’s Studio 54. The British actress will continue in the role until the run ends on March 29, nearly a year after it began. Miller will be co-starring with Alan Cumming, who has been re-creating his Tony-winning performance as the emcee since the beginning of the latest engagement.

The character of Sally Bowles has proved irresistible to actresses since she was created by Julie Harris in the 1951 John Van Druten play, “I Am A Camera.” Sally became even more of a lure when the drama was adapted into the 1966 Broadway musical, “Cabaret,” by Joe Masteroff and with songs by John Kander and Fred Ebb.   Jill Haworth created the role on Broadway while Judi Dench played her in the original West End version. Of course, Liza Minnelli won an Oscar for her riveting portrayal in the 1971 Bob Fosse film musical. But it was the long-running Rob Marshall-Sam Mendes 1998 revival that set the revolving door spinning. More than a dozen actresses — beginning with Natasha Richardson, who won a Tony Award — painted on the green fingernails and donned the frilly lingerie of the sassy chanteuse of the louche Kit Kat Club in Berlin of the 1930s.

After Richardson left the role that would prove to be the peak of her career — she died tragically in 2009 — the roster of succeeding actors included Brooke Shields, Molly Ringwald, Gina Gershon, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. When the return of the Marshall-Mendes revival was announced last year, Stone was supposed to open in it. But her film schedule interfered and the directors chose to replace her with Michelle Williams, making her Broadway debut.  She drew mixed notices and disappointing business.  When Stone took over in early December, the critics were charmed and the box-office soared. The timing couldn’t have been better. The young star has just been nominated for both Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Awards and is almost certain to get an Oscar nod for her featured role in “Birdman.”

Stone’s schedule did not allow her to extend her run in “Cabaret” beyond February 15. This might have been a bigger letdown had the producers not come up with someone like Miller, who as a marquee name could keep the box-office percolating.    This will not be her Broadway debut. She showed serious acting chops in a 2009 revival of August Strindberg’s “Miss Julie” opposite Johnny Miller. But this will mark her singing debut.

What has been a saving grace for actors unaccustomed to singing is the fact that Sally, as written, is radioactive with ambition but second-rate when it comes to vocal prowess. One of the trickier aspects of the role is how to convey this while shining with starry magnetism. Stone expressed it naturally with heartbreaking vulnerability and kittenish sensuality.  She also is a force of nature in the role and one can only hope that Miller’s take on Sally will come up with even more facets to this endlessly fascinating character.

“Sally Bowles is like Hamlet,” Stone once observed. “There are just so many different ways to play her.”