John McCook of TV's "Days of Our Lives" has replaced Michael Nouri in The Mark Taper Forum's revamp of Stephen Sondheim's Putting It Together, Oct. 4-Nov. 29.

Nouri leaves the show "due to scheduling conflicts." McCook joins the cast of John Barrowman, Carol Burnett, Susan Egan, and Bronson Pinchot. A pianist, conductor, as well as actor, McCook previously appeared with Burnett in Carol Burnett, From the Top at the Long Beach Civic Light Opera.

Burnett, last on Broadway in Moon Over Buffalo, stars in the revue, which initially featured Julie Andrews when it played at Off-Broadway's Manhattan Theatre Club in 1993. The cast also features Susan Egan (Beauty and the Beast, Triumph of Love ) and Bronson Pinchot (Zoya's Apartment ). Pinchot is probably better known for his work on film ("Beverly Hills Cop") and television ("Perfect Strangers").

The score of Putting It Together originally consisted of songs from Sondheim's stage musicals and the "Dick Tracy" movie score, but the new version will include previously unheard material, said a Taper company spokesperson.

A Variety report (July 31) that Cameron Mackintosh is already planning a Broadway transfer of the show in 1999 was called "not only premature, but just not true" by New York press agents at the Publicity Office. "Mackintosh retains rights to the material, and he is somewhat involved in the L.A. production," said spokesperson Bob Fennell, "but what happens beyond that, no one knows."

Eric D. Schaeffer, who has directed several Sondheim musicals at the Signature Theatre in VA, will direct, with musical staging by Bob Avian, who choreographed the MTC production.

For tickets for the Taper's revamp of Sondheim's Putting It Together, Oct. 4-Nov. 29, or for more information call (213) 628 2772.