If I suggested a "rule" it was this
"If some of a musical's pleasures are surprising plot twists in the libretto, don't ruin it for yourself by seeking out a synopsis, even if the only place the show is currently playing is New York City."
Noel, you are making the assumption that the person listening to the OCR has the
ability to see the show, in NYC or elsewhere. Much of the time, this is simply not the case. Expenses alone can kill this line of opportunity. A CD can run fifteen bucks; in comparison, even if a show hits the road, this still means shelling out for tickets, transportation, food, quite often childcare...this bill is tallying up rather quickly. For someone who does not live in a major metropolis, or close to one, this can further turn into a trip of not one but two days. Considering how often you yourself have complained about your poverty level, I'd think you would have more sympathy towards others and their financial problems.
Further, you have not addressed the question of what those of us who do not see the show on stage are supposed to do
when the damn thing closes! As an example, I can cite
Nick & Nora, the Laurents/Strouse/Maltby collaboration that sadly bombed. I have the CD, and enjoy it a lot; "Look Who's Alone Now" is a great torch song, one of the handfull written specifically for a male voice, and alone would make any show CD worth having in a collection. In Ken Mandelbaum's liner notes, he includes the statement "This cast recording should go a long way towards increasing appreciation of the achievements of the authors of
Nick & Nora," clearly acknowledging the fact that most people buying the disc will not have, and probably never will see the show. But the synopsis included leaves us hanging as to what the hell happens towards the end of the second act, and dammit, knowing that I will probably never get to watch a staged production, I'd like to know! For that matter, if I were the director of a theater company, I'd like to know before deciding to stage the show myself!
Please don't go waving this flag of yours that reads "See the show," because in too many cases that simply isn't gonna happen.
I also said "Do what you want to do" but what do I know? - I'm a little light-headed due to the paucity of good cuisine in this food-deprived metropolis. 
I never said NYC was food deprived, or lacked good cuisine. I said that, due to everything being imported, it has never developed
a cuisine of it's own. I was using food as an example of how everything has to be imported into that city. To indicate that I said anything other than that is disingenuous. Find some other excuse for being light-headed next time.
