Holding steady from last week, the top five slots are held by Decca Broadway's Wicked (its 57th week in the No. 1 position) and Rhino's Jersey Boys at No. 2, followed by Mamma Mia! and Spring Awakening (both on Decca Broadway), with Sony Classical's Hairspray rounding out the top five.

Along with Wicked and Mamma Mia!, the cast recordings of Monty Python's Spamalot and Avenue Q (at No. 8 and 11, respectively) have remained on Billboard's Top Cast Album Chart for the full 63 weeks since the chart's inception.

The release of Stephen Schwartz's Wicked has topped the chart for 57 of the 63 weeks the chart has been published. The recording has dominated the 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 for the week of Feb. 8.

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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.