As if to ease the audience into the slower pace of life in Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire in the early 20th century, the Purple Rose Theatre’s production of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” takes its sweet time getting started.

One actor plays piano, inserting a bit of musical humor, while another does a handstand (?) and then takes a free-standing light off-stage. Other actors gradually appear and take up residence upstage, and the Stage Manager (Will Young) starts to tell the audience about the visual and human make-up of Grover’s Corners.

The production’s program lists “Town”’s setting as the Rose’s rehearsal space, which fits with the self-conscious theatricality of “Our Town.” And a good deal of director Guy Sanville’s take works well, in that several small, often-passed-over moments become disarmingly moving. But at the same time, heavy-handedness, in this opening and other spots, occasionally mars the proceedings.

The play, of course, focuses on two neighboring families in Grover’s Corners, the Gibbs and the Webbs, and tracks the love that develops between young George Gibbs (Michael Brian Ogden) and Emily Webb (Stacie Hadgikosti) before a tragedy parts them forever.

Many people (myself included) likely read or heard about Young playing the Stage Manager and thought, “Well, of course he is.” The role just seems perfectly suited to Young, and indeed, audiences won’t be disappointed. Young manages to make the storyteller wise, warm, and gently funny while also doing wonderful work in his bit roles (his performance as ice cream soda-serving Mr. Morgan is absolutely wonderful).

And although it’s nice to see actors who are close to the age of the characters playing the parts of George and Emily’s parents (among others), a youthful spark seemed missing from Ogden and Hadgikosti’s George and Emily. Yes, there were hints of it here and there, and both performances had strong moments; but by and large, I missed that sense of energetic, awkward, clumsy boyishness and girlishness — something that often makes the play’s wedding scene deeply affecting, since the two then seem like children who might well be in over their heads.

Conversely, the relationship that both charmed and surprised me on opening night was that established by Rhiannon Ragland and Jim Porterfield as Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs. Porterfield makes the doctor a gruff, grumbling bear of a man who, when no one’s looking, expresses a clunky-but-genuine affection for his wife; Ragland’s Mrs. Gibbs, meanwhile, is a pragmatic woman who’s nonetheless susceptible to high emotion and romantic whims; and she adores her husband, despite the fact that his dogged devotion to his work costs her her dreams of foreign travel. The two actors add some welcome humor to "Town," and they share a quiet, stolen moment in Mrs. Gibbs garden that's one of the most memorable, touching scenes of the production.

There are several experienced, strong actors in "Town," so the bar is set high, yet not all members of the large ensemble are working at the same level. In addition, occasional live music accompaniment, performed by actors on-stage, both helps and hurts the cause. At times, particularly when the Stage Manager is speaking, the faint notes of the piano add a fitting aural backdrop; but at other times — such as the scene in which the alcoholic choir master Simon Stimson (Matthew Gwynn) runs into the town’s constable (Tom Whalen) and Editor Webb (Bill Simmons) late at night — the music feels intrusive and manipulative. Wilder’s words are powerful enough on their own terms, and they ultimately have to be trusted.

One question that always arises with “Town,” of course, is how far you push the drama’s self-conscious theatricality. When audience members are called upon to ask Editor Webb questions about the town, for example, Sanville leaves the actors who respond on stage rather than planting them in the crowd. Yes, we’d all know they were cast members, anyway, but the staging choice nonetheless felt strange — as though I wanted to at least pretend, for a second, that those actors were audience members.

Tech elements, as is usually true at the Rose, were solid, with Daniel C. Walker skillfully providing the show’s lighting design, and Sally L. Converse-Doucette costuming the performers in simple clothes — mostly in muted grays, beiges, and whites — that subtly suggest, rather than faithfully mimicking, the play’s era. (The young female characters’ velvet skirts, and Emily’s leg warmer-like leggings, were the only cause for distraction.)

Finally, the decision to transition directly from the second act (which ends in a happy moment) to the third act (which begins in tragedy) without an intermission may be sound in terms of time economics, but it makes for an emotionally rough ride for the audience. Rather than getting to linger for a few moments in George and Emily's newlywed joy, we're hit with how quickly their happiness ends. And while this may be suggestive of what their experience feels like, it nonetheless seems too jarring.

In the end, there are several beautifully-realized small moments in the Rose’s production of “Town,” and there’s some fine acting going on, too. But a truly great “Town” lets the play’s light and dark elements shine through in equal measure, and the Rose’s take seemed, on opening night, a little bogged down by the weight of its own convictions.

“Our Town” continues through May 29 at Purple Rose Theatre Co., 137 Park Street in Chelsea. Performances run Wednesday-Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 3 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday at 2 p.m. For tickets or information, call 734-433-7673.

Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.