Tim Howar

Tim Howar is a Canadian-born British singer and actor, born on 24 November 1969 in Spirit River, Alberta, Canada. He is known for his work in West End and Broadway musicals as well as his role as co-lead vocalist of the pop-rock band Mike + The Mechanics alongside Andrew Roachford.

Howar's early training was rooted in music and dance. He sang with the Alberta Youth Choir, the Centennial Singers, and Pro Coro Canada before joining Edmonton Musical Theatre. He began dancing at age 16 and became an apprentice with Ballet North, receiving a full scholarship offer from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, which he declined in favor of musical theatre. His stage debut came at age 18, when he played the Artful Dodger in Oliver!, produced as Stage West's 100th production in Edmonton. This followed his winning of the Grand Prize at the Youth Talent International Competition in Memphis, Tennessee, a distinction he remains the only Canadian to hold.

His early Canadian stage work encompassed a wide range of productions. He covered the role of Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and covered Chris Scott in Miss Saigon in Toronto. He played the title role in The Who's Tommy on both the Toronto production and the Canadian National tour in 1996. Additional Canadian credits include Anne of Green Gables at the Charlottetown Festival, Guillaume and cover Arnaud in The House of Martin Guerre in Toronto, Screamin' John McGee in Rock and Roll for Theatre New Brunswick, Barnaby in Hello, Dolly! in Edmonton, Martin in Outrageous in Toronto, and Joel in Anything That Moves in Toronto.

Howar spent more than two years playing Marius Pontmercy in Les Misérables on the 1998 US National tour and in Toronto, performing opposite Colm Wilkinson across most of the United States. He subsequently relocated to the United Kingdom, where he originated the role of Michael in Peggy Sue Got Married at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 2001. He then originated the role of Stuart Clutterbuck in the Rod Stewart musical Tonight's the Night at the Victoria Palace Theatre in 2003. Between those productions, he appeared in Ragtime at the Cardiff International Festival. He went on to play Ozzie in On the Town at the English National Opera, performing at both the London Coliseum and the Théâtre du Châtelet.

Howar returned to New York to play Roger Davis in the Broadway production of Rent for its tenth anniversary production, running from 30 January 2006 through 29 July of that year. He remained in New York for three additional years before returning to London. His subsequent UK credits include Latin Fever in the West End and on UK tour, Shoes at Sadler's Wells and the Peacock Theatre, and Stacee Jaxx in Rock of Ages at the Shaftesbury Theatre and Garrick Theatre in 2013.

In 2018, Howar played Freddie Trumper in the English National Opera's West End revival of Chess at the London Coliseum. That same year, from 3 September through 8 December, he took on the role of the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre, returning to the role from 13 May through 7 September 2019. He reprised the Phantom in a Greece production in February and March 2023, and later in the European tour of the show in Athens and Thessaloniki. In 2022, he played Tateh in Theatre Calgary's production of Ragtime. He is also scheduled to play Stephen in the London production of the Broadway musical If/Then in February 2025.

Howar joined Mike + The Mechanics in 2009 as co-frontman and has since recorded and toured internationally with the band. Their album Let Me Fly, released in 2017, remained in the BBC Radio 2 top ten for more than eight weeks. The band released a further album on BMG in 2019. Howar's recorded output also includes the original Canadian cast recording of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, the original London cast recording of Tonight's the Night, the Mike + The Mechanics albums The Road, The Hits, and Let Me Fly, the Van Tramp album Wheels of Fortune, and contributions to recordings including Somewhere in the Audience with Eric Woolfson and the Burning Blue movie soundtrack. In 2025, he voiced Ima Tsukumo in the English dub of the video game The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy. He is also a regular guest soloist at concerts worldwide, having performed with ensembles including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Philharmonic, the Hallé Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Belgium and France, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, and the BBC Concert Orchestra, as well as at Raymond Gubbay concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and on BBC Radio's Friday Night is Music Night.

His film and television work includes F/X in Canada and an appearance in Last Chance Harvey alongside Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. He has also worked as a voiceover artist, with credits in gaming and corporate projects.

Howar was married to actress Ruthie Henshall from 2004 until their divorce in 2009; they have two daughters, Lily and Dolly. In September 2016, he married Musical Director Jodie Oliver at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh. Their son, Hamish, was born in April 2018, an event that caused Howar to leave midway through the opening performance of Chess.