SHORT TAKES : ‘The Thin Man’ Musical Delayed as Producers Seek Financing

“Nick and Nora,” a musical version of “The Thin Man,” has been postponed until next spring because the producers have not been able to completely finance the $5.6-million production.

The musical, starring Barry Bostwick and Joanna Gleason as Dashiell Hammett’s famous detective couple, was to have opened in February at the St. James Theater. It is one of the most highly touted musicals of the season, one of the few big American shows expected to compete with “Miss Saigon,” the British blockbuster.

Rehearsals for the musical are expected to begin Jan. 2, 1991, in New York with an out-of-town engagement beginning Feb. 26 at the Mechanic Theater in Baltimore, a spokesman for producers James Pentecost and Charles Suisman said Tuesday. The show will open at the St. James in New York on April 25 after three weeks of previews.

“Nick and Nora,” which has a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr., has been in the works for more than five years.