"I don't do Barbra," actor Michael Urie says in the opening moments of Buyer & Cellar, when he is speaking as himself, an actor who is about to play the role of a fictional actor hired by Barbra Streisand to work in her massive Malibu home. "I mean I don't really do her. There are plenty of fantastic people out there who actually impersonate her well... even some women." But as this cleverly conceived, hilariously executed one-man show unfolds, we learn that not only can Urie do a passable impression of the great diva, he can also do a pretty great James Brolin, and oscillate between several other voices doing entire scenes of dialogue just on his own.

The play, an import from off-Broadway that opened last week for a very short run at the Curran Theater, was written by Jonathan Tolins and directed by Stephen Brackett, won Urie a Drama Desk Award, and landed on many Top Ten lists for New York theater in 2013. And the Bay Area is lucky to have Urie reprising the role in one of the show's first touring engagements — as he said, he didn't want San Francisco to see anyone else playing the part, and he also has a sister in Berkeley, so it was a no-brainer.

Broadly outlined, the play is a fictional account of roaming the actual, real-life world of Streisand's carefully decorated home — a design process she detailed in her actual, 2010 book, My Passion for Design. Tolins chose to focus on one of the most absurd aspects of the house, which is a mall of "shops" that Streisand had constructed in the basement of a faux New England barn on the property in order to house her various collections of antique dolls, movie costumes, and other things. There is also a Gift Shoppe. And a frozen yogurt stand. I am not kidding.

In Buyer & Cellar, Urie plays under-employed actor Alex Moore, who after getting fired from being the Mayor of Toon Town at Disneyland lands a job as Streisand's mall's sole employee, waiting around most days in this basement lair, dusting things, and wondering if the lady of the house is going to pay him a visit. And indeed she does.

The two begin a playful, improvisational relationship in which Alex concocts a story behind a doll Streisand has likely owned for years, and then she tries to haggle with him over the "price." This grows into an odd friendship, despite Alex never being invited up to see the main house. Then finally he is, and things unravel from there.

Tolins constructs a narrative that begins as a light mockery of Streisand, her ego, and her wealth, and evolves into something deceptively complex — a meditation on insecurity, loneliness, and the deep disappointment that comes with achieving everything you ever dreamed of. Urie also elegantly portrays the relationship between Alex and his boyfriend, a longtime Streisand fan who becomes increasingly incensed by the idea that his icon is all too human, and annoying, and possibly trying to steal his boyfriend away.

While some knowledge of Streisand's long career and notorious public persona are helpful in appreciating the rapid-fire jokes in Buyer & Cellar — particularly her later work as a film director and star in Prince of Tides and The Mirror Has Two Faces — it's not essential, and the production is a must-see for Urie's performance alone. The former Ugly Betty star proves not only his stage chops, but an amazing comedic range that transcends the more cartoonish work he did on the TV show. And especially if you are a Streisand fan (with some passing knowledge of that older gay icon, Judy Garland, too), you will be tickled and laughing through the play's entire 100-minute running time. This is terrific playwriting and acting of a kind that only pass through town a few times a year.

Buyer & Cellar runs through August 31. Get tickets here.