The legend of Queen is being kept alive with the stage show 'We Will Rock You'.

The script for the musical was written by Ben Elton and features the music of Queen. It is set 300 years in the future at a time when live music is banned on earth and the kids of the rebellion are fighting against the all powerful Globalsoft Corporation which controls their lives and feeds them a diet of synthesised pop.

The London stage show has run for nearly a year and has been seen by more than three quarters of a million people.

Now 'We Will Rock You' is going global. There are planned performances for Canada, Spain, Germany, Austria and Russia later this year and the USA in 2004.

The first place outside of London to host the show will be Melbourne, Australia. The Australian stage production of 'We Will Rock You' will premiere at the Regent Theatre on August 7.

Queen's Roger Taylor and Brian May were in Australia to oversee the final auditions. They spoke to the media at the Melbourne press conference and then Roger Taylor sat down with Undercover's Paul Cashmere to talk more about the show.

From the Press Conference:

Paul Cashmere: By doing 'We Will Rock You' is this also an exercise in keeping the Queen legend alive without having to go out and find a new singer?

Roger Taylor : There wasn't a masterplan for that to happen but in England it seems the show supports record sales and record sales support the show. It's like a cycle and that is fine. We are not complaining.

PC: Could you see Queen going out again and playing live because of the profile 'We Will Rock You' is giving you again?

RT: We keep threatening to.

Brain May: It is still possible. We have a singer problem as you probably know. We really don't want to replace Freddie. It just doesn't feel right. We have looked at it all these years and yeah we could have a number of people step in to do certain things but we don't want to put somebody in Freddie's shoes. As you say, the music is a great way of channelling your creativity and the spirit of the thing into something where we don't need Freddie. It is great. We feel that Freddie is around very much and all through the creative period of putting the show together we feel that somehow we know what he would say. We don't need him there at the front. We have wonderful young people there to portray the songs and it is a great way forward for us. It is one of the ways forward. We may tour again. He (points to Roger) is not too old.

PC: There are rumours going around that George Michael is about to take over the role as the new lead singer of Queen. Can you deny that here?

RT: We keep hearing that rumour. It has literally been around for 10 years now. We did a tribute show for Freddie after he died for AIDS Awareness. George did a particularly brilliant set with us. We had a charity record that was a big hit from that. It all blew up from there. There has never been serious talk of George joining us.

After the press conference, Roger joined us to discuss 'We Will Rock You' some more:

Paul Cashmere: Let's start off by talking about the musical 'We Will Rock You' because that's why you are here. I'm going to jump straight to the casting of the character Pop who in the English stage show is played by Nigel Planer who is better known as Neil from The Young Ones. That's a brilliant casting decision.

Roger Taylor: We are actually casting that role later today. We have our other principals and yesterday we saw the most brilliant pool of talent from Australia. Some incredible singing, some very good acting and some great looking people. It is really looking good. We are yet to cast the role of Pop.

PC: How many people have auditioned for the Australian roles?

RT: We have had guys down here looking at people in New Zealand, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. What we saw was a short list and we were fantastically impressed. This is a very difficult and demanding role. They demand a tremendous vocal range from singing but they also have to be able to act and also, hopefully, look good. You can find a great singer who moves awkwardly. You can find a great actor who can't make the notes. There are some very demanding roles.

PC: How are you auditioning the musicians?

RT: What we are doing is we are gathering pools of musicians and putting them into band situations. We are forming a super band out of that, if you know what I mean. We are going to say "well that guy plays really well and I think he might play really well with this guy". We are hoping to form a crack band. That is what we did in England. We really got us a spectacularly talented band there. We are a 9 piece at the moment and it really covers the lot. It is quite a thrill to put those things together.

PC: You are taking about Australianising it. Will Britney Spears turn into Kylie Minogue for the Australian version?

RT: (laughs). That is going to be up to Ben (Elton). As Ben lives in Australia he is very capable of doing that. I don't know if Britney will turn out to be Kylie. It is quite possible. But I think you have heard of Britney Spears in Australia so maybe not. It will be Australianised. Every country (we plan to go to a lot of countries including Russia, Spain and many other countries) I think we are going to literally have to refashion the show around the country that it is in.

PC: When you watch 'We Will Rock You', do you appreciate it song by song like the fans do?

RT: Strangely enough I have seen it about 100 times and I have really enjoyed it every time.

PC What gives you the biggest thrill out of the songs performed? What is your favourite?

RT: Favourite out of the show? That is very difficult. I really enjoy the last 20 minutes of the show. I have various favourites but basically the thrill is to see the songs alive and well and appreciate it and people getting enjoyment out of them. That is the biggest reward really. Just to bring our music to a lot of people. We have had a great lifestyle out of that in the last 30 years. It is great to see that it is still alive and it makes you feel worthwhile.

PC: Had we not lost Freddie (Mercury) could you see Queen would have gone on and would still be performing now. As an example, we just had The Stones through here last week. Would Queen have become like The Stones?

RT: I know that Freddie used to say even then "I don't want to be like Mick Jagger touring into my old age". But we would have been together most certainly making music, making songs, making recordings. But I don't think we would have been touring. I don't know. Maybe we would, maybe he would have changed his mind. I don't think we would have kept on doing exactly the same thing for all those years. Tour, album, tour, album. You know The Stones have been around a lot of times.

PC: What about a song like 'Bohemian Rhapsody'? How do you feel when you hear it these days?

RT: It is so phenomenally popular in England. I think it was voted the most popular song of all time by the English. I think that is just great. We will take that. I just feel lucky to be associated with it really.PC: You and Brian (May) are obviously very actively involved in Queen. What about John's (Deacon) role in all this?

RT: John really has retired. He doesn't like going out. He wrote us a letter in which he said "I fully endorse whatever you are doing or what you do and you have my wholehearted support behind it but I feel I don't want to be involved" basically. John doesn't really enjoy other people's company. He is very much a recluse.

PC: I mentioned before in the press conference the George Michael rumours. There has also been talk about Robbie Williams being involved in the band.

RT: Yeah, yeah. Robbie. We did a little work with Rob and it was fun. He is a fun person. We were actually talking about doing a tour in America with Rob. I think on really standing back from it, it is not such a really great idea. He has his own thing to get on with. There is quite an age gap. I think he should get on with his own career which is what he is doing. I'm sure he will continue to do well.

PC: Have you been watching what INXS have been doing with Jon Stevens going out in the place of Michael Hutchence?

RT: I would like to see them because I remember the guys. In fact, we had them on tour with us in Europe. They were such a great band. Michael was such a charismatic lead man. I haven't seen them since they reformed but I do wish them the very best of luck because they were a fantastic band.

PC: Finally, that 5ive thing you did

RT: ahhhhhh (smiles)

PC: was that just a bit of fun?

RT: Yeahhhhh. It was just a bit of fun. I don't know how we got dragged into that really. Then the stupid idiots go and break up. They have no staying power at all these youngsters.

PC: That was a very interesting combination. You are obviously open to different ideas.

RT: Yeah, we are but the 5ive thing was never really my kind of thing. I'm really thrilled to see all these new proper rock bands. There are hundreds and hundreds, thousands and thousands of them around the world. Every 15 year old kid is in a band now. That is the way it was when I was growing up. I think it is fantastic. I think it is a reaction to all the pre-packaged crap we have been getting for years. There's phenomenal drummers and phenomenal energy out there now. It is back to basics which is great. It is all about that.