Timothy Howar (born 24 November 1969) is a Canadian-born British singer with the pop-rock band

Mike + The Mechanics Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documenta ...

who also acts in leading roles in West End and

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

musicals.

Career

Howar was born in

Spirit River, Alberta Spirit River is a town in northern Alberta, Canada. It is approximately north of Grande Prairie at the junction of Alberta Highway 49, Highway 49 and Highway 731. Demographics In the 2021 Canadian census, 2021 Census of Population conducted ...

, Canada.Mandel, Lyssa
"Tim Howar"
broadway.com, 25 February 2006 He has spent his career on both sides of the Atlantic, starring in both West End and Broadway productions. In his theatre career he has played an extensive variety of roles, ranging from rock musicals such as ''

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

'' and ''

Rock of Ages Rock of Ages is an epithet that is used in some translations of Isaiah 26, Isaiah 26:4 and may refer to: Films * Rock of Ages (1918 film), ''Rock of Ages'' (1918 film), a British silent film by Bertram Phillips * Rock of Ages (2012 film), ''Roc ...

'', to classical musicals such as ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...

'' and '' On the Town''. He is a co-lead-singer of the band

. His career in music started young, singing in the Alberta Youth Choir, the Centennial Singers, and Pro Coro Canada, before joining Edmonton Musical Theatre. His dance career began at 16, which led to him becoming an apprentice with Ballet North. He had been offered a full scholarship to the

Royal Winnipeg Ballet The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is Canada's oldest ballet company and the longest continuously operating ballet company in North America. History It was founded in 1939 as the "Winnipeg Ballet Club" by Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally (who also fou ...

, which he declined after deciding to pursue his love of theatre / musical theatre. He began his career on stage at age 18 playing the Artful Dodger in ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before opening in the W ...

'' (Stage West's 100th production, Edmonton) just after winning the Grand Prize in the Youth Talent International Competition in Memphis, Tennessee – he is still the only Canadian to hold this award – and then went on to appear in the Canadian productions of Broadway shows ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' is a sung-through musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice ...

'' (cover Joseph), and ''

Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a sung-through musical theatre, stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madama Butterfly'', and similarly tells th ...

'' in Toronto (cover Chris Scott). He played the title role in ''

The Who's Tommy ''The Who's Tommy'' is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Pete Townshend and a book by Townshend and Des McAnuff. It is based on the 1969 rock opera '' Tommy'' by The Who. Productions The musical opened at La Jolla Playhouse in San Di ...

'' (Toronto and Canadian National tour) in 1996. Other Canadian productions include ''Anne of Green Gables'' (Charlottetown Festival, PEI), Guilliame /cover Arnaud in '' The House of Martin Guerre'' (Toronto), Screamin' John McGee in ''Rock and Roll'' (Theatre New Brunswick), Barnaby in '' Hello, Dolly!'' (Edmonton), Martin in Outrageous (Toronto), and Joel in ''Anything That Moves'' (Toronto). He then went on to play

Marius Pontmercy Marius Pontmercy () is a fictional character, one of the protagonists of Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel ''Les Misérables''. He is a young student, and the suitor of Cosette. Believing Cosette lost to him, and determined to die, he joins the revoluti ...

in ''

'' (1998 US National tour and Toronto) with

Colm Wilkinson Colm Wilkinson (born 5 June 1944), also known as C. T. Wilkinson, is an Irish singer and actor who is best known for originating the lead role of Jean Valjean in ''Les Misérables'' (in the West End and Broadway) and for creating the title rol ...

for over 2 years, playing most every state in America (except Alaska!). He moved to the UK to play Michael in the new musical ''

Peggy Sue Got Married ''Peggy Sue Got Married'' is a 1986 American fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola starring Kathleen Turner as a woman on the verge of a divorce, who finds herself transported back to the days of her senior year in high s ...

'' at the

Shaftesbury Theatre The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden. It opened in 1911 as the New Prince's Theatre, with a capacity of 2,500. The current capacity is 1,416. The title "Shaftesbury Theat ...

in 2001, and decided to stay in the UK after being asked to originate the role of Stuart Clutterbuck in the Rod Stewart musical '' Tonight's the Night'' (2003, Victoria Palace Theatre). In between, he also did ''

Ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...

'' at the Cardiff International Festival. Following this, he played the role of Ozzie in '' On the Town'' at the ENO (London Coliseum and Théâtre du Châtelet). He returned to New York to play Roger Davis in the Broadway production of ''

'' for the 10th Anniversary production, from 30 January 2006 through 29 July. He stayed in New York for 3 more years, before returning to London after landing a record deal with his rock-band Van Tramp. UK credits include ''Latin Fever'' (West End and UK Tour), Shoes (Sadlers Wells and Peacock Theatre), and Stacee Jaxx in ''

'' (2013, Shaftesbury Theatre and Garrick Theatre). In 2018, he recreated the role of Freddie Trumper in the West End revival of ''

Chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

'' for the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is a British opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in E ...

at the London Coliseum. From 3 September – 8 December 2018 and 13 May – 7 September 2019, he played the role of

The Phantom ''The Phantom'' is an American adventure comic strip, first published by Lee Falk in February 1936. The main character, the Phantom, is a fictional costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla. The char ...

in the

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

musical ''

The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera may refer to: Novel * The Phantom of the Opera (novel), ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (novel), 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux Characters * Erik (The Phantom of the Opera), Erik (''The Phantom of the Opera''), the title char ...

'' at

Her Majesty's Theatre His Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who ...

in London’s West End. In February and March 2023, he reprised the role in the Greece production. In 2022, Tim played the role of Tateh in Theatre Calgary’s production of ''Ragtime'', before embarking on a 2023 tour with Mike + The Mechanics. Shortly after this, he returned to the role of Phantom in the European tour of ''Phantom of the Opera'', in both Athens and Thessaloniki. In 2025, Tim will tour to South African/UK/Germany/Austria with Mike + The Mechanics. He will also play the role of Stephen in the London production of the Broadway musical “If/Then” in February 2025. Tim is also a regular guest soloist for concerts around the world, including Raymond Gubbay concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, Friday Night is Music Night for BBC Radio, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Abbey Road 80th Concert, the Halle Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Belgium and France, the London Philharmonic, London Concert Orchestra, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, and BBC Concert Orchestra. In 2009, he was asked to join rock band

as co-frontman with

Andrew Roachford Andrew Roachford (born 22 January 1965) is a British singer-songwriter and the main force behind the band Roachford, who scored their first success in 1989 with the hits " Cuddly Toy" and "Family Man". He has also had a successful solo career. ...

, and has spent the past few years recording and touring around the world singing hits such as "All I Need is a Miracle" and "I Can't Dance" to sell-out audiences and arenas. Their latest album of new material Let Me Fly was released in 2017 and stayed in the top 10 for over 8 weeks on BBC Radio 2. They continue to tour and play at festivals and gigs around the world. He worked on another MATM album set for release in 2019 on BMG, as well as a solo album. He is also a voiceover artist, having lent his voice to various projects, in particular gaming and corporate work. In 2025, he voiced Ima Tsukumo in the english dub of The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy. Original Cast Recordings / rock recordings include: *Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (original Canadian cast recording) *Tonight's the Night (Original London cast recording) *Somewhere in the Audience (Eric Woolfson) *Burning Blue (Movie soundtrack) *Comrade Rockstar (Original cast recording) *"Wrong Songs For Summer" & "Uncle David" (for composer Richard Thomas) *Shoes the Musical (Richard Thomas) *Wheels of Fortune (Van Tramp) *The Road; The Hits; Let Me Fly (Mike + the Mechanics) TV/Film includes: *F/X (Canada) *''Last Chance Harvey'' (with Dustin Hoffman & Emma Thompson) *Commercials (inc. Tim Hortons, Canada)

Personal life

Howar was married to

Ruthie Henshall Valentine Ruth Henshall (born 7 March 1967), known professionally as Ruthie Henshall, is an English actress, singer and dancer, known for her work in musical theatre. She began her professional stage career in 1986, before making her West End d ...

from 2004 and divorced in 2009. They have two daughters, Lily and Dolly.Gans, Andrew
" Peggy Sue Got Married's Ruthie Henshall and Tim Howar to Marry"
''Playbill'', 26 February 2004 In September 2016 he married Musical Director Jodie Oliver at

Greyfriars Kirk Greyfriars Kirk () is a parish church of the Church of Scotland, located in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is surrounded by Greyfriars Kirkyard. Greyfriars traces its origin to the south-west parish of Edinburgh, f ...

in Edinburgh. They have one son, Hamish, born in April 2018. Howar left midway through the opening performance of the musical ''Chess'' when his wife gave birth.Foster, Alistair
"A star is Bjorn: 'Chess' star Tim Howar leaves musical midway through as wife goes into labour"
''Standard'', 27 April 2018

References

External links

Official websiteProfile at Broadway.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Howar, Tim Mike + The Mechanics members 1969 births Musicians from London Living people Canadian expatriates in England