Good "Company" on PBS

You could call it "Sondheim-lite," though British director John Doyle and composer Stephen Sondheim probably would bristle at the term.

But Doyle's recent Broadway stagings of the inventive Sondheim musicals "Company" and "Sweeney Todd" certainly did streamline these works, limiting them to a single set, a small instrumental combo and casts of singer-actors who could also serve as backup musicians.

The effects of such revisionism (employed with Sondheim's blessings) will be on view when "Great Performances" airs Doyle's stripped-down, much-praised "Company" on KCTS-TV tonight.

Staged in full at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre in 2006, "Company" broke thematic barriers in 1970 by centering on the romantic ambivalence of a dashing Manhattan bachelor, and the marital angst of his coupled friends.

For a book by George Furth (based on his own short stories), Sondheim forged a score packed with insightful, memorable tunes — including the rueful ballads "Being Alive," "Sorry-Grateful" and "Barcelona."

"Company" seems like a better fit for a bare-bones staging than Doyle's recent Broadway take on "Sweeney Todd" (which struck this critic at least as more reductive than artfully compressed). One of the first so-called "concept musicals" of the 1970s, "Company" has a less opulently orchestral score than "Sweeney Todd." And it unfolds in vignettes which require little scenic garnishing.

The PBS telecast of Doyle's 2006 Broadway stand of "Company" features the dynamic Raúl Esparza, whose performance as Bobby won a Drama Desk Award, and a Tony Award nomination.

Esparza alone may be a reason to tune in. But if critical reaction is any predictor, this "Company" should yield other pleasures, too.

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com