About Us
Peter and Christina Holland, the founders of Once Upon a Blue Ridge, met while performing with the Patchwork Players, one of the oldest professional theatres in the South. They make their home in Meadows of Dan, VA–just off the Blue Ridge Parkway.
For the past twenty-two years, they have presented their own original and educational plays for young people and adults throughout Virginia and the Carolinas.
Christina Boyd Holland is a professional actress, director, and theatre teacher. She graduated from Ferrum College with a BA in fine arts with concentrations in theatre and music. Christina was a public school teacher for sixteen years, teaching theatre and chorus at Patrick County High School, VA and South Stokes High School in Stokes County, NC.
In her one woman show, Girl of the Holler, she chronicles her life’s story–moving from her near birth on a ferris wheel to her continued struggles with mental health, and finally, the passing of her moonshiner father in 2022. The story, though humorous, is treated with a respect that only she can give.
A film of Girl of the Holler premiered at the All the Laughs film festival in Atlanta 2025 and will be featured at the Mosaic of Laughter Short Film Festival in May of 2026.
Peter Holland is a veteran actor, writer, and director with over fifty years of experience in the Theatre. He has over 200 professional stage credits in theatres all over the United States.
His plays for young people include The Living Storybook and Jack and His Magic Sack. His plays for adult audiences include Heaven on Wheels, a stock car racing tribute show, and Mr. Lincoln’s Office, a one man play based on the writings of Abraham Lincoln.
Peter Holland has starred in several films including Uncle Otto’s Truck, adapted from a Stephen King story, and Population Purge, an apocalyptic thriller–both films are directed by Brian Johnson.
In As I Was, directed by Matt Batchelor, Peter Holland plays a fisherman in the Outer Banks struggling with Alzheimer’s–it was made to raise awareness of the condition.