Masterworks Broadway's June 6 release of The Wedding Singer entered the chart at No. 3 (just behind the Best Musical Tony winner Jersey Boys on Rhino) and Ghostlight Records' The Drowsy Chaperone hit the list at No. 7 (just behind fellow Best Musical nominee The Color Purple on Angel).

The Columbia Records release, "Harry on Broadway Act 1," (with Connick, Jr.'s work in The Pajama Game and Thou Shalt Not) and Decca Broadway's Mamma Mia! round out the top five.

Wicked reaches its 22nd week (of the 24 weeks the chart has been published) in the No. 1 slot. The Decca Broadway release of the Stephen Schwartz musical has dominated the spot for most the chart's history (only the two-disc "Harry" recording and The Color Purple have toppled it for one week each.)

This past season's Sweeney Todd charted alongside last season's Monty Python's Spamalot (on Decca Broadway) and previous hits Hairspray and Avenue Q. The Lion King re-enters the chart at No. 14.

The new Decca Broadway release of the acclaimed Carnegie Hall concert of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's South Pacific starring Reba McEntire and Brian Stokes Mitchell also placed with current long-running show Rent (both the cast album and "Highlights" CD). *

A recent addition to Billboard's listings, the Top Cast Albums chart debuted in Billboard on Jan. 12, 2006. Stephen Schwartz' Wicked — which opened on Broadway in October 2003 (album released Dec. 16, 2003) — appeared at the top of the first chart. 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.

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