“The Homecoming: A Christmas Story” should knock the Scrooge right out of you.

The charming play with music, the DeSales University Act 1 holiday show through Dec. 11 on the Main Stage, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, Center Valley, has an interesting pedigree.

The play by Christopher Sergel is based on the semi-autobiographical novel, “The Homecoming: A Novel About Spencer’s Mountain” (1970), by Earl Hamner, Jr. (July 10, 1923 - March 24, 2016), a Virginia native, on which a Christmas special and spin-off hit TV show, “The Waltons” (1971-’81; for which Hamner did the narration) was based.

“The Homecoming: A Christmas Story” is a gentle tale based on an incident in Hamner’s life. The story, set in the Virgina mountains in 1933 and told with sincere emotion by Matt Smaldone (Clay-Boy), has to do with the family’s father, Clay (Andrew Scoggin), who is unable to return home from work because of a snowstorm.

The worried family, including the mother, Olivia (Jillian Vinciguerra), and children, Matt (Louis Jannuzzi III), Becky (Ally Borgstrom), Shirley (Larissa Veres), Mark (Kurt Eckenrode), John (Thomas Scheidel and Rufus Ville, alternating the role, with the latter performing Nov. 30) and Patti Cake (Joanna Scheidel, alternating with Golda Rabin, the latter in the Nov. 30 performance seen for this review), tries to make-do with season preparations as best it can.

The large student cast includes 21, with 12 in the ensemble, a student doing a radio announcer’s voice, five musicians (piano, guitar, banjo, fiddle, harmonica) and three in the church choir.

Director Anne Lewis has a steady hand for story in the memory play, keeping performances true-to-life and sentimentality-free. Music Director is Nancy Moser Collins, who uses the music as intermezzos to evoke the play’s homespun mood.

The African-American church choir is the show’s vocal highpoint, with inspired singing by Ilia Paulino (Miss Minnie), Iyke McCoy (Rev. Dooly) and Abria Jackson and Alyssa Ramsey.

The multi-use set by Scenic Designer Will Neuert is versatile. Lighting Designer is Elizabeth Elliott. Costume Designer Amy Best adds believability to the story’s era.

Fans of “The Waltons” should enjoy this origin story. Most all will find the show a “Homecoming” for the best attributes of the season.