Tony Starlight has been an entrepreneur producer, entertainer, musician, comedian, and amateur ornithologist, who has been entertaining audiences for over thirty years. He produces and stars in music and comedy shows—performed in theaters and elsewhere. Tony spent over twenty-five years performing in Portland, OR where he owned and operated Tony Starlight’s Supperclub & Lounge, and Tony Starlight Showroom, where he performed his signature dinner shows. Tony specializes in song parodies, impressions of musical icons, and tributes to pop culture phenomena. He is a sought-after emcee for civic events and charity galas. Tony impersonates everyone from Dean Martin to Axl Rose, Frank Sinatra to Tom Jones, Bob Seger and Elton John to Cat Stevens, but his specialty is Neil Diamond. Over the years, Tony performed a variety of themed shows, such as the James Bond 007 Experience, Salute to the Copacabana, Tribute to Television, and a Singing Cowboy Show. In 2020, he relocated to Georgetown, SC, but he still regularly returns to Portland to emcee events, or perform private events and concerts at places like The Alberta Rose Theatre and The Old Liberty Theater in Ridgefield, WA. Currently, Tony is the Director of Music Education at Lowcountry Preparatory School in Pawley’s Island, SC, and also at Prince George Winyah Preschool in Georgetown, SC, where he is known among his students as “Mr. Starlight.”

booking inquiries: (818) 731-4541 or tonystarlight@hotmail.com

About Tony Starlight

EARLY HISTORY 1993-1999

Tony Starlight performed at Portland nightlife mainstays like 1201 Club, The Gypsy, and Jimmy Mak’s. As a comedian he opened for Steven Wright in both Portland and Seattle. In 1999 he moved to Los Angeles, where he unsuccessfully performed at the world-famous Improv alongside Sarah Silverman and Zach Galifianakis, and was a cast member of L.A. Connection Comedy Theater for three seasons, where he was voted Best Writer by his peers.

TONY STARLIGHT’S SUPPERCLUB AND LOUNGE 2007-2014

Tony and his wife, the lovely Mrs. Starlight, moved back to Portland and opened Tony Starlight’s Supperclub and Lounge on northeast Sandy Boulevard. The club was a throwback to the classic, early- and mid-century dinner clubs of New York and Las Vegas. Tony performed his own show at the club, alongside a stable of other talented local entertainers who helped keep the music and spirit of this era alive. Tony shut the doors on the Sandy Boulevard location and opened the brand-new Tony Starlight Showroom on Madison Street in August of 2014, setting a new standard for live entertainment venues in Portland.

In addition to performing regularly on his own stage, Tony tours his show to numerous theaters throughout the region such as the Old Liberty Theatre in Ridgefield, WA; The Vault Theater in Hillsboro; Canby Pioneer Chapel; Arrivederci Wine & Jazz Bar in Milwaukie, and Portland’s own Alberta Rose. Tony has also become a popular emcee for numerous corporate and fundraising events. He even performs a few weddings each year.

tony as master of ceremonies:

Oregon Hall of Fame Inductions Ceremony 2010 – 2023
LEAP Adventure Gala 2014 - 2023
Kaleidoscope Fighting Lupus 2016 – 2022
Ross Hollywood Veterans Day Parade 2009 – 2019
NWDSA Buddy Fest NW 2011 – 2019
Human Solutions Annual Fundraising Gala 2010 – 2014
NW Dance Project Gala 2014 – 2018
Ducks Unlimited 2013 – 2017
Abby’s Closet 2016
LEP High School Investor Dinner 2011 - 2012
Grant High School Fundraising Dinner & Auction 2009, 2011 & 2013

corporate event clients

Elliot, Powell, Baden & Baker • Yakima • Fabrication Products Inc • Nike • Mentor Graphics • Tire Factory • Toyota • Beltran Properties • Ferguson Wellman • Oregon Medical Group Management Association • I.B.E.W. 100-year Gala • Charter Communications • Oregon Cable Telecommunications Association • Food Services of America • The Women’s Clinic • Ponzi Vineyards • E.E. Schenck

The Tony Starlight Show is a love letter to the bygone days of live stage entertainment. Inspired by such artists as Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, Elton John, Bobby Darin, Gene Autry, and Dean Martin, Tony believes in putting the show back into “Show Business.”

This year marks the 30th anniversary of The Tony Starlight Show, which has been an ever-evolving hybrid of music and comedy. The show is a combination of song parody, musical impressions, and various tributes to iconic artists and pop culture phenomena. Tony impersonates icons like Neil Diamond, Dean Martin, Bob Seger, Tom Jones and many more. Tony is also an interactive entertainer, who includes the crowd in the fun. Tony and his band are serious musicians, but they never take themselves too seriously. Each show will have you laughing as you recall the great music and personalities you grew up with.

Backed by top-notch musicians, the Tony Starlight Show is always performed with a REAL LIVE BAND and often includes special guest stars. Tony loves what he does and it shows.

Remember the classic holiday TV shows of your childhood, when entertainers like Bing Crosby and Dean Martin spread the holiday cheer far and wide and you couldn’t help but feel the warmth and glow of the season? Now in its 16th season, It’s a Tony Starlight Christmas brings back these uplifting holiday traditions and puts a fresh, comedic spin on them.

KGW stopped by to do a piece about It’s a Tony Starlight Christmas. Click here to see the video.

Tony has joined forces with Bo Ayars (arranger and conductor for Liberace, Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand) to put together a music and comedy Christmas program no other. Swinging holiday standards, comedy routines that lampoon Millennial and Generation X culture, impressions of Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, Jimmy Durante, Neil Diamond, Louis Armstrong and more. Tony and Barbara Ayars also perform songs from such holiday classics as The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Scrooge and several of the Rankin/Bass animated specials like The Year Without A Santa Claus and Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, complete with character voices. The show is both silly and sweet and sure to put you in the holiday spirit.

This series of shows in December sells out every year!

2023 Holiday Schedule

Reviews of It’s a Tony Starlight Christmas…

What combines showbiz razzmatazz, swingin’ arrangements, ring-a-ding-ding razzle-dazzle, and more holiday spirit than a buffet table piled high with figgy pudding? The Tony Starlight Christmas Show, in which Portland’s resident retro-swagger showman extraordinaire celebrates his favorite time of year. Steeped in Las Vegas-style energy and top-notch musical chops, the show combines jazzy renditions of “Winter Wonderland”; comedy routines; impressions of Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, Neil Diamond and others; and tunes from holiday animated classics, including “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and Rankin-Bass specials. - The Oregonian

Stage veteran Tony Starlight has been cracking holiday audiences up for years with his Vegas-style-spoof performances that combine jazz parodies, comedy, and Christmas tunes—that is, Frosty the Snowman gets arrested and Starlight does his best Bing Crosby and Neil Diamond. – PDX Monthly

If you like your holiday swinging with a dose of cocktails, check out It’s a Tony Starlight Christmas, in which Portland’s fave crooner is joined by a rat pack of talented singers to perform classic holiday hits (and comedy). – Portland Mercury

A multimedia, live music tribute to the anointed one!

We guarantee this is the finest Neil Diamond Tribute in the country, and certainly the funniest! Musically, the tribute is faithful to the source material. Vocally, it’s eerie how much Tony sounds like Neil in his prime. The best part, though, is the humor. Tony and his band are serious musician who don’;t take themselves too seriously. Simulated figure skating, self-aggrandizing monologues, and glittery man-blouses all make for a fun evening for fans (and those who are afraid to admit they’re fans!) In fact, people who “hate Neil Diamond” have been known to accidentally enjoy this show!

TONY STARLIGHT USES LIVE MUSICIANS ONLY. What you hear is us. There are no “backing tracks” on this, or any other show at Tony Starlight Showroom.

“Neil Diamond’s music unites people from multiple generations. It speaks to people’s souls. Of all the music that I sing, across multiple genres, nothing gets an audience going like a Neil Diamond song.” – Tony Starlight

The Tony Starlight Neil Diamond Tribute differs from similar tributes in three key ways.

1) Musically it is a faithful rendition of Neil in his heyday. Tony’s Neil voice is spot on, in both tone and inflection.
2) The show doesn’t take itself too seriously. Tony is a musical comedian, so the show is a fun mix of music and comedy. And sing-a-long!
3) It is in a seated concert setting, NOT a “stand-like-sardines-for-two-hours-in-a-venue-that-thinks-all-you-want-to-hear-is-drums-and-bass.”

Read Tony’s blog where he tells the story of how he started his Neil Diamond Tribute

“A Diamond sparkling in the Starlight: Tony Starlight does Neil Diamond”

Kristi Turnquist, The Oregonian – October 27, 2012

Sporting a sparkly shirt, tight pants and a bejeweled belt buckle reading “SEXY,” Tony Starlight saunters onstage, into the spotlight, while the band plays.

“Hello, Portland!” he hollers. The crowd of about 90 people applauds, and Starlight pauses as he looks around dubiously. “Are you sure this is the Rose Garden?”

Read the rest of the article…

Party like a soft rock star!

Tony Starlight makes an evening out of performing songs from the stalwarts of the AM dial in the 1970s. Artists like Elton John, Neil Diamond, Carol King, Jim Croce, Little River Band, Carly Simon, Gordon Lightfoot, Paul Simon, Barry Manilow and Billy Joel. One hit wonders like “Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl)”, “Dancin’ In The Moonlight”, “Welcome Back”, “Seasons In The Sun” and much, much more.

“The radio was the soundtrack to the 1970s, the era in which I grew up. Not every radio had FM capabilities, especially in cars. The AM dial was played in stores and restaurants and in the Country Squire Station Wagon that I rode in sans seat belts. I absorbed these songs and they are a part of me. A few lines of “Rocket Man” and I’m taken back to a time of polyester, bell bottoms and Evel Kneivel.

We are always shocked at how the audience seems to know all the words to every song in our playlist. To hear the crowd sing “give me the beat boys and free my soul, I wanna get lost in your Rock n’ Roll and drift away” is magical. It’s like a big campfire sing-along, K-Tel style!”

– Tony Starlight

A salute to the music of Elton John & the lyrics of Bernie Taupin

Elton John created and performed some of the best pop music the world has ever known. This show is nothing but Elton John and Bernie Taupin classics like “Your Song”, “Tiny Dancer”, “Daniel”, “Rocket Man”, “Honkey Cat”, “Philadelphia Freedom”, “Benny and the Jets”, “Crocodile Rock” and many others. Wear your funkiest glasses and celebrate the magic of Elton!

Check out this piece on KPTV 12 about the show!

A comprehensive homage to the idiot box with the All-Star Horns

Ernie Kovacs once quipped, “Television is a medium, so called because it is neither rare nor well-done.” This may be true, but TV THEME SONGS ARE GREAT! Through music, monologues and sing-alongs, Tony takes you on a journey through the wonderful world of television and the era of classic theme songs, such as “The Greatest American Hero”, “Mary Tyler Moore”, “Wonder Woman”, “The Love Boat”, “Cheers” and “Family Ties (Without Us)”, and classic instrumentals like the themes from “The Pink Panther”, “Star Trek”, “Mission Impossible” and “Hawaii 5-0”.

We also venture further into the weird mind of Tony Starlight. Could the Red Hot Chili Peppers sing the Brady Bunch? What TV theme sounds the most like a song by The Cure? Or Green Day? Or The Smiths? And what’s “Tears for Cheers” supposed to mean, anyway?

These are the folk songs of a generation. Sing-along to “The Brady Bunch”, “The Munsters”, “Gilligan’s Island” and even “Schoolhouse Rock”. Snap along to “The Addams Family”. Even the commercials had great songs! “Get your skis shined up, grab a stick of Juicy Fruit, the taste is gonna move ya…”  or “So tonight, tonight, let it be Lowenbrau…”

This show is a multimedia trip down memory lane you won’t want to miss, performed by an All-Star, eight-piece band led by the Maestro Bo Ayars.

Tony performs Sinatra classics with a swingin’ septet. This is some of the best music ever recorded and Tony and the band treat it with the respect it deserves. It’s not cheesy nor kitschy. It’s not ironic. It’s not “too cool for school”. It’s a heartfelt, faithful recreation of the Sinatra Sound with great musicians. Tony and the band perform such classics as “The Lady Is A Tramp”, “New York, New York”, “My Way” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”. Intimate “saloon songs” like “Angel Eyes” and “One For My Baby” bring back the feeling of the great nightclub era. You’re sure to have a ring-a-ding-ding time!

Join Tony and friends as they salute the great Dean Martin by performing a tribute in the style of Dino’s fabulous television show. Tony’s guests have included Barbara Ayars as Rosemary Clooney and Petula Clark, Marianna Thielen as Ann-Marget, Jillian Snow Harris as Judy Garland and Liza Minelli, David Charvet as Orson Welles and Linda Michelet as Peggy Lee.

The second set is a tribute to Dino’s legendary Las Vegas Act with horribly outdated jokes about broads and booze. An unforgettable night of music and laughter!

Celebrate the style and the glamour of the world’s most iconic spy! Dry martinis, pressed tuxedos, vivacious vixens, super villains, nifty gadgets, evil henchmen, ethereal music and vivacious vixens.

Vocalists Tony Starlight, Barbara Ayars, and Thea Enos will be backed by a seven-piece band performing all of the great and none of the terrible James Bond themes (well, maybe they’ll “dance into the fire” and sing “View To Kill” by Duran Duran,) including “Goldfinger”, “Thunderball”, “You Only Live Twice”, “From Russia With Love”, “Diamonds Are Forever”, “Nobody Does It Better”, “Skyfall”, “Live and Let Die” and many more.

Live theatrics make this is a true James Bond Experience.

Read Tony’s rankings and comments on all 23 bond themes

Featuring the fabulous Copa Girls!

Relive the glamour of the world’s greatest nightclub in its heyday,—New York City’s famed Copacabana! Tony and a swinging septet perform a night of tributes to the legendary entertainers who graced the stage at the legendary Copacabana. Signature hits by artists such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Bobby Darin, Tom Jones, Jimmy Durante, Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett, and more are performed by Tony and the band while the fabulous Copa girls dance across the stage in stunning costumes.

Frank, Dino and the Wham of Sam — “Alone Together” with the All-Star Horns

Join Tony and an All-Star Swinging Septet as they perform the best of Frank, Dino and Sammy, all in one show. To be clear, this is Tony’s rendering of each one of these dynamic performers, with monologues from their live performances.

Tony performs Rat Pack classics like:
DINO: “Ain’t That A Kick In The Head”, “Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime”, “Sway”, and many more…
FRANK: “Fly Me To The Moon”, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, “Come Fly With Me”, “New York, New York”, and many more…
SAM: “The Goin’s Great”, “What Kind Of Fool Am I?”

Tony renders each of the tributes with a great combination of reverence for the material and a tremendous spirit of silly fun. You’re also welcome to send along requests to tonystarlight@hotmail.com and they may appear in the show!