Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike manages the neat trick of being both a sometimes uproarious send-up of Chekhov and an affectionately heartwarming modern-day variation on his themes. Featuring a stellar cast of such comedic pros as David Hyde Pierce, Kristine Nielsen and Sigourney Weaver, the overlong play overstays its welcome but provides plenty of hilarious moments along the way.

Set at a farmhouse in present-day Bucks County, Pennsylvania, the play first introduces us to siblings Vanya (Pierce) and Sonia (Nielsen), their names given to them by professor parents enamored of Chekhov. The middle-aged Vanya and spinster Sonia live a comfortable life, thanks to the largesse of their successful actress sister Masha (Weaver), who unexpectedly shows up for a surprise visit.

The occasion is a costume party being held by one of her friends at a nearby house formerly owned by Dorothy Parker. Masha, intending to go dressed as Snow White, is happy to invite her siblings along, provided they complement her costume by dressing as two of the dwarves, specifically Grumpy and Dopey.

The endlessly self-absorbed, vainglorious Masha has arrived with Spike (Billy Magnussen), her much younger boyfriend, in tow. An underemployed actor whose biggest claim to fame was nearly getting a part in HBO’s Entourage 2, the equally vapid if hunky Spike has no compunction about stripping down to his underwear to take a quick dip in a nearby pond. There he encounters the sweet young Nina (Genevieve Angelson), who the insecure Masha immediately perceives as a threat.

Also on hand is Vanya and Sonia’s sassy housecleaner Cassandra (Shalita Grant), who lives up to her Greek mythology name by revealing soothsaying powers, not to mention a sideline in voodoo.

Durang’s gift for sharp comic dialogue and well-calibrated gags is well on display here, with the priceless interactions among the eccentric characters providing a steady stream of laughs. But the play strains in its allusions to Chekhov—Vanya and Sonia find their cushy lifestyle threatened by Masha’s announcement that she plans on selling the house, with a wan cherry orchard nearby—and the humor begins to wear thin, especially with several of the principals registering as little more than caricatures.

There are two wonderful scenes in the second act that are well worth the price of admission. Nielsen is brilliant in an alternately poignant and hilarious phone one-sided phone conversation in which Sonia hesitatingly agrees to a date with a man she’s met at the party. And Pierce delivers a tour-de-force comic turn with Vanya’s hysterical tirade about the lack of values and common decency in today’s society compared to when he was growing up in the 1950s.

Featuring a gloriously lavish set by David Korins and hilariously spot-on costumes by Emily Rebholz—Weaver’s Snow White costume is a hoot, as is Magnussen pastel-colored, skin-tight jeans—the production is expertly staged by Durang veteran Nicholas Martin (Betty’s Summer Vacation). The three lead performers are longtime collaborators of the playwright as well, which no doubt accounts for the relaxed comfort with which they fit into their comic roles.

Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 W. 65th St. 212-239-6200. www.lct.org.