HEY, IT’S NICE TO MEET YOU!

Born out of Westchester, IL, Dean Zaverdas, Jr formally grew up in the suburbs of Downers Grove, IL. Dean comes from a Greek family bloodline that originates out of the Mykonos islands of Greece. He is the third generation that has lived here in America, and while Dean is known for his iconic "Dean the Dancing Machine" persona, the doctor did tell his mom when Dean was born, "WOW! That’s one dark Mediterranean boy!" Once Dean was born, he was bestowed his formal Greek name, "Kóston Deano Nikólaos Zaverdas, Jr." At the end of day, Dean is truly a "Fellow Next Door" at heart....and a momma's boy!

Growing up with three older sisters sports driven like their father, followed right behind his sister's footsteps. For three years, Dean played Baseball but never found his footing; the spark was missing. If it wasn't for his fifth-grade music teacher, Dean would have never found his one true purpose in life; to bring "Dean the Dancing Machine" to the stage! When Dean was in fifth grade, his music teacher, Ms. Coats, had made it a requirement for his entire class to audition and perform in his elementary school's musical "When Silence was Golden." Dean, who hadn't found his passion yet, dreaded auditioning.... until he read the script. After intensely soaking in the script, Dean discovered a character that would change his life, Tom the Cowboy. It was this character, on stage, where Dean found his true purpose in life, the life of an actor!

Dean's journey began in his local elementary school theatre, performing in shows such as "When Silence Was Golden" and "DIG IT." During that time, Dean also had joined his district's school traveling choir program, performing concerts at several of elementary schools in the DuPage County for three years. Dean continued his theatre and choir passion in middle school through high school performing in all his school's plays/musicals. In addition, Dean joined his school's Forensics' Team (Speech Team) where he competed in tournaments in events such as "Humorous Duet Acting", "Humorous Interpretation, and "Ordinal Comedy."

During the summertime, Dean, in addition to all his school theatre activities, joined up with BAMtheatre where Dean vigorously expanded his arsenal in his training and show experience. Notable shows Dean has heightened from his time at BAMtheatre is playing Kenickie in "Grease", Kyle and Grandmaster Chad in "Legally Blonde, "Mufasa in "The Lion King", Fred Casey in "Chicago, Rapunzel's Prince/Wolf in "Into the Woods", and Loise as a main member of the Shark gang from "West Side Story."

Dean was also been accepted into BAMthatre's conservatory program where Dean took deep focus in acting, singing, and dance training. His training spirals from "A Study of Uta Hagen" (five years), "Study on Sondheim", eight years of Ballet and Jazz dance, and vocal coaching for eight years. Dean was awarded "The BAM STAR" and "The BAM SPIRIT" award for five or more years of commitment to BAMtheatre and for exhibiting the "True BAM spirit”.

Once he graduated high school, Dean was accepted into Columbia College Chicago where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Musical Theatre, class of 2022 with honors. During his time at Columbia, Dean has performed in numerous Columbia College Chicago mainstage shows such as playing Cliff in "Cabaret" and Mario in "Case Study Contact." Once Dean graduated from Columbia College Chicago, Dean made his professional debuet with BrightSide Theatre Company playing Ensemble in their Production of "She Loves Me" and Peter/Pasco in "City of Angels: In Concert" as part of BrightSide Theatre's Season 10 again.

Most recently, Dean's greatest achievement he achieved after college yet was being selected to perform with the International Lyric Academy to east-coast, and internationally premier David Fiorello's hit show "With a Song in My Heart: The Romance of Richard Rodgers" in Charlotte, NC and Vicenza, Italy back in July 2023. Overall, Dean has now been a part of over FOURTY THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS in his life and is currently seeking more stories to explore on the Chicago Stage!