I am considering:
sky pencil holly
curlyleaf ligustrym
green spire euonymous

Any thoughts on these and any other suggestions?

Some additional info:
other foundation plants will be indian hawthorn (3-4 ft tall). Exposure is east/southeast, so it gets a good 6 hours of sun and some late afternoon shade. One side of the steps is constrained by the steps, foundation, sidewalk and driveway, so the space is 4x6 feet. So I obviously may have to do some pruning.

I am considering conifers, too, so I also posted a similar question in the conifers forum.

I have seen the fastigate Japanese Plum Yews grow up to 6" or more, in the pot in the nursery - granted they are well and frequently feed.

My feeling about the 'Sky Pencils', personal prejudice here, is that they tend to look a bit spindly in top as they grow, not a nice thick column.

Both the ligustrum and the euonymus are good, albeit possibly slower than wanted also.

If the more formallook is right, and you are willing to get out the scissors several times a year, the spiral trained junipers can look stunning.

Another possibility, which is amenable to heavy pruning, is an Irish yew, but it depends on your zone - they don't like too much summer heat.

The skypencil holly is like an exclamation point. It's hard to combine with other shrubs. It's color matches most other nearby shrubs. I have one by the front door that's thriving in an elevated,irrigated bed and I'm not happy with it because it just doesn't blend with most other shrubs.
The greenspire euonymous I also have in a back yard border and also in pots waiting to be planted. They've been in those pots for more than 5 years and that limits their growth but not their vigor.
Greenspire gets decimated by the deer.
If you have deer browsing your yard, choose something besides the greenspire. They, like the skypencil, grow like an exclamation point although their color is somewhat lighter than most foundation shrubs so they blend without disappearing.
They have occasionally gone completely dead looking,bleached out and drop all their leaves only to come back a few months with new,normal growth.

I'd go for the curly leaf if I were you. Just know you should prune it rather than clip it when you want a different,thinner shape.

Dottie, how tall are your culy leafs? I see variations as far a show tall they get. Some places say 4 feet, others say 6 feet.

I think you'll be very satisfied with the color,growth habit and shiny dark leaves of the curlyleaf ligustrum.
It's a good stand alone shrub or you can intersperce it with a softer shrub to make an interesting hedge.(just don't mix with loropetalum that constantly need pruning)