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“Unexpected” and “revelatory” are excellent words to describe Karen Akers’s new show in the Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel. She’s singing the work of Kander & Ebb, the songwriting team most closely associated with Liza and Chita, two performers who are anything but Ice Queens. Of course, Karen Aker has been melting her own”Ice Queen” title over the last five years or more; still, this exquisitely elegant woman of royal ancestry seems hardly the type for the rambunctious rhythms of “Coffee in a Cardboard Cup,” the earthiness of “Arthur in the Afternoon,” or the effervescent twinkle of “City Lights.” But damn if she doesn’t surprise you! We always knew that Karen Akers was a first rate actress-singer, but the revelation is that she has more sides than a Rubik’s Cube.

She makes a point of saying in her act that she’s not going to sing “New York, New York,” and she goes out of her way to perform some of the best of Kander & Ebb’s lesser-known tunes. For instance, she pulls out — and puts over — “Sorry I Asked, “a great bit of special material that they wrote, and she also triumphs with “My Own Space” from The Act. Several times during the show, Akers and her musical director, Don Rebic, highlight a relatively obscure Kander & Ebb number by coupling it with one of the wrtiers’ most beloved songs, enriching both in the process. For instance, combining “There When I Need Him” from The Act with “Maybe This Time” makes both songs all the more emphatic, as if one story is being told in two acts.

Akers doesn’t talk a great deal in this show; she communicates best through her music, capturing the mystery of the past in “Walking Among My Yesterdays” and exuding optimism in such songs as “First You Dream,” “Colored Lights,” and the emblematic “Yes.” It’s almost as if we’re seeing and hearing a brand new version of Karen Akers; gone are the French songs, and in their place are vibrant American musical theater tunes. This artist is evolving, growing and changing but, as always, making great music come to life.

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Rob Fisher, one of the guest artistic directors of the Lyrics & Lyricists series at the 92nd Street Y, had the good sense — let’s say the inspiration — to borrow the basic concept of the famous magazine piece in which Stephen Sondheim picked 100 songs that he wished he had written. Fisher reduced the number to 21 and asked the celebrated lyricist Sheldon (Fiddler on the Roof) Harnick not only to pick his favorite lyrics by other lyricists, but to host a recent concert at the Y in which these songs were performed. Harnick, on the verge of turning 82, was bright, charming, and witty in his avuncular role of elder musical theater statesman. He picked an eclectic group of songs and proceeded over the course of the concert to explain the reasons for his choices.

Hearing Sheldon Harnick discuss the lyrics of his contemporaries is like hearing Mickey Mantle talk about the batting technique of Willie Mays; you simply can’t get a more expert opinion on the subject. We enjoyed his comments throughout the show; unfortunately, we didn’t enjoy the singers. Four usually excellent performers were left rudderless in number after number, let down by director Gary Griffin. The show should have sparkled with the combination of fascinating musical choices and a cast that included Judy Kuhn, Emily Skinner, Lewis Cleale, and John Ellison Conlee. Instead, it fizzled due to lack of direction. For example, Judy Kuhn and Lewis Cleale faced the audience and never interacted with each other in a duet of “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” from Promises, Promises. It was downright perverse!

Much of the concert had us shaking our heads in disbelief. Jerry Herman’s “I Am What I Am” (from La Cage aux Folles) is an individual’s proud declaration of idiosyncratic selfhood, but here it was sung as a group number, which ruined the point. Throughout the program, the performers seemed uncomfortable. In fact, only one song was performed to the hilt: Cleale gave a smoldering rendition of “One of the Good Guys” (Maltby/Shire). We only wish hat this sort of commitment had been demonstrated more often.

No doubt you’re curious as to what songs Harnick picked. Here’s the list: 1) “The Flowers That Bloom in Spring,” Gilbert & Sullivan; 2) “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” David-Bacharach; 3) “Bein’ Green,” Joe Raposo; 4) “Better,” Ed Kleban; 5) “A Fine, Fine Line,” Marx-Lopez; 6) “New Words,” Maury Yeston; 7) “The Kid Inside,” Craig Carnelia; 8) “Meadowlark,” Stephen Schwartz; 9) “Silly Old Hat,” Cohen-Evans; 10) “You’re Nothing Without Me,” Zippel-Coleman; 11) “I Am What I Am,” Jerry Herman; 12) “Seasons of Love,” Jonathan Larson; 13) “The Rose,” Amanda McBroom; 14) “Put on a Happy Face,” Adams-Strouse; 15) “Something Sort of Grandish,” Harburg-Lane; 16) “One of the Good Guys,” Maltby-Shire; 17) “Free,” Stephen Sondheim; 18) “When the Earth Stopped Turning,” William Finn; 19) “Try to Remember,” Jones-Schmidt; 20) “Wheels of a Dream,” Ahrens-Flaherty; 21) New York, New York,” Ebb-Kander.

As mentioned above, Harnick shared with the audience his reasons for some of his choices. For instance, he admitted defeat in his attempt to write the lyrics for the Children’s Letters to God but was so impressed with the lyrics eventually written for the show by Doug Cohen that he included one of the songs from the score in the Y concert and explained in detail what this young lyricist had accomplished. Classy guy, that Harnick!

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[To contact Barbara & Scott Siegel directly, e-mail them at siegels@theatermania.com.]