Fame Becomes Me Doesn't Fall Short on Billboard Cast Albums Chart | Playbill

Related Articles
News Fame Becomes Me Doesn't Fall Short on Billboard Cast Albums Chart The original Broadway cast recording for Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me debuted on the Billboard Top Cast Albums chart just behind the top-five, which have held a four-week stronghold at the top of the countdown.

The Ghostlight/Sh-K-Boom release of the Short-fronted musical, which hit stores April 10, enters the chart at No. 6. Featuring Hairspray collaborators Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman's score, the album features Brooks Ashmanskas, Mary Birdsong, Capathia Jenkins, Nicole Parker and Shaiman himself.

Holding steady from the past three weeks, the top slots on the chart are filled by Decca Broadway's Wicked, followed by Rhino's Jersey Boys, Decca Broadway's Mamma Mia! and Spring Awakening with Walt Disney's The Lion King rounding out the top five.

Along with Wicked and Mamma Mia!, the cast recordings of Monty Python's Spamalot and Avenue Q have remained on Billboard's Top Cast Album Chart for the full 68 weeks since the chart's inception.

Disney also enjoys three other spots on the list with the original London cast recording of Mary Poppins and the original Broadway cast albums of Tarzan and Beauty.

The release of Stephen Schwartz's Wicked has topped the chart for 62 of the 68 weeks the chart has been published. The recording has dominated the top spot, only being toppled by the Columbia Records two-disc "Harry On Broadway" release (with Broadway's The Pajama Game revival and selections of Connick, Jr.'s Thou Shalt Not) and The Color Purple for one week each. Jersey Boys also had a four-week run at No. 1 following its big Tony win and reclaimed the top spot the week of Feb. 8. *

Billboard added the Top Cast Albums chart to its listings Jan. 12, 2006. The chart measures sales of albums from stage musicals. Broadway recordings mostly fill the 15-slot table, but cast albums from other locales are also eligible. The addition of the chart to Billboard's 112 charts generates exposure for the genre which does not often chart on the Billboard 200. The Schwartz musical — which opened on Broadway in October 2003 (album released Dec. 16, 2003) — appeared at the top of the first chart.

Billboard can be found on the web at www.billboard.com. Full charts are available by subscription at www.billboard.biz.

 
RELATED:
Today’s Most Popular News:
 X

Blocking belongs
on the stage,
not on websites.

Our website is made possible by
displaying online advertisements to our visitors.

Please consider supporting us by
whitelisting playbill.com with your ad blocker.
Thank you!