Howar was born in
Spirit River, Alberta, Canada. 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 and
Rock of Ages, to classical musicals such as
Les Misérables and
On the Town. He is a co-lead-singer of the band
Mike + The Mechanics. 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, 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 in
Les Misérables (1998 US National tour and Toronto) with
Colm Wilkinson 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 at the
Shaftesbury Theatre 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 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
Rent 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
Rock of Ages (2013, Shaftesbury Theatre and Garrick Theatre). In 2018, he recreated the role of Freddie Trumper in the West End revival of
Chess for the
English National Opera at the London Coliseum. 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
Mike + The Mechanics as co-frontman with
Andrew Roachford, 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 ==