Dean began his professional acting career in Toronto in 1997 after receiving an Honor’s degree in Dramatic Art and a degree in Education from Queen’s University. 5 years of theoretical and practical training included studies in Theatre History, Directing, Play Writing and Acting under the instruction of Fred Euringer, Tim Fort, Craig Walker, Greg Wanless, to name a few. Outside of the academic forum, Dean served as a writer, actor and director for various productions on campus and within the Kingston community. In 1992, Dean held starring roles in many musical theatre productions including Leader of the Pack, Me and My Girl, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Camelot. Within these productions Dean drew much attention as an actor and was even referred to “as possessing the mesmerizing quirks and antics of Peter O’Toole” (The Kingston Wig Standard). Dean honed his classical skills while staring in Romeo and Juliet as well as his comedic skills working with a university based comedic group called The Queen’s Players in such productions as Admission Impossible and Happy Independence Days. In the summer of 1994, Dean starred in his first professional production outside of Queen’s at Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton as Action in West Side Story. This production, in conjunction with his gaining acclaim as a writer and director, lead him to direct the same musical at The Grand Theatre in Kingston in 1996. This project followed quickly on the heels of his directorial successes with Declan Nine (written by Brendan Brown), Time Passages (written by Dean Armstrong), The Collection (written by Harold Pinter) as well as the musical My Favorite Year.
It was through the process of directing that Dean found his love for teaching and in the following year applied and was accepted into a specialty teacher’s college program called The Artist in the Community at McArthur College. It was here where Dean began sewing the seeds for a long career in Arts and Education. - "Dean is deeply committed to education. He has a natural, unaffected style, and, most importantly, is deeply interested in students and the nature of their developing awareness and understanding. His classes are vivid and engaging!" - Martin Schiralli, PhD., Coordinator, 'A.C.E.' (Artists in Continuing Education), Faculty of Education, Queen's University.