The delay will allow producers a chance to recruit additional investors for the musical, which will cost $9.5 million to mount on Broadway. The extra time will also allow librettist Barry Levinson a chance to sharpen his script, which is based on his screenplay for the film.

Producer Scott Zeiger told the Times, "Everyone just feels it needs more work to be better, and we want it to be the best...We wanted to do the creative work without a spring opening being a gun to our heads. And we want to raise all the money, so we can open on Broadway without worrying about making budget and having reserve funds if ticket sales are slow at first."

Producer Zeiger also said that a developmental workshop in October was affected by Hurricane Sandy; fewer investors joined the producing team at that time than had been hoped.

The musical about pals who gather at a Baltimore diner in 1959 is being directed and choreographed by three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall (Wonderful Town, The Pajama Game, Anything Goes).

Diner, based on Levinson's 1982 film, is set in Baltimore, 1959, when six high school friends reunite at the one place they know they'll always belong: the Diner. "Now in their twenties, the friends have stumbled into adulthood and struggle to keep from growing apart," according to production notes. "Life, love, responsibility — it's all on the table." Crow, who is composing the musical's score, is a nine-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter.

The production team includes scenic designer Derek McLane, lighting designer Peter Kaczorowski and sound designer Scott Lehrer with orchestrations and music direction by Mitchell Froom.

Academy Award winner Levinson received an Oscar nomination for his original screenplay for "Diner," which was his film directing debut. The rueful film comedy starred Kevin Bacon, Ellen Barkin, Tim Daly, Steve Guttenberg, Paul Reiser, Mickey Rourke and Daniel Stern.