From Queen to The Queens - We Will Rock You director Ben Elton stays at Southsea hotel during rehearsals

The alternative comedian who made his name as a writer on The Young Ones and Black Adder was at the hotel for 10 days as he led the company through their final rehearsals and tech week at the Albert Road venue.

During that time he happily signed a copy of one of his books for a hotel staff member and posed for photographs.

The musical, based on the music of rock legends Queen was kicking off its 20th anniversary tour at The Kings.

And Queen’s guitarist Brian May stunned the audience when he joined the cast on stage for the finale of Bohemian Rhapsody.

Elton told Queens Hotel’s head of communications Kate Pearce that he had been putting in long days at the theatre so didn’t have much time to explore Southsea.

Ms Pearce said: ‘He did say that he had enjoyed his stay at the hotel and it was great to be in Portsmouth.

SEE ALSO: Director Ben Elton looks back on 20 years of We Will Rock You | Interview

‘We chatted about the surprise appearance of Brian May at Tuesday night’s performance and he was keen to see more of the photos taken by The News’s head of video Habibur Rahman – he said they were great photos.’

We Will Rock You is at The Kings until Saturday. Go to kingsportsmouth.co.uk

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