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Deborah Cox talks about filling Whitney Houston’s shoes in ‘The Bodyguard,’ her LGBTQ fans and more

The R&B singer performs in Tampa this week.
 
Deborah Cox stars as Rachel Marron in The Bodyguard, with Jaquez André Sims, Brendon Chan, Willie Dee and Benjamin Rivera. The show runs March 20-25 at the Straz Center. Courtesy of the Straz Center.
Deborah Cox stars as Rachel Marron in The Bodyguard, with Jaquez André Sims, Brendon Chan, Willie Dee and Benjamin Rivera. The show runs March 20-25 at the Straz Center. Courtesy of the Straz Center.
Published March 20, 2018

Any singer should be scared of the role. Playing Rachel Marron in The Bodyguard, a musical adapted from the 1992 film starring Whitney Houston that hits Tampa's Straz Center this week, means singing more than a dozen of Houston's hits, including I Have Nothing and I Will Always Love You.

Deborah Cox isn't any singer, however.

She's one of Canada's biggest ever R&B stars, whose 1998 single Nobody's Supposed to Be Here was ranked the No. 1 Canadian R&B song of all time by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. And while she respects Houston, even idolized her as a child, Cox isn't afraid to be filling the greatest shoes of all.

"Her style and her gift were incredible," Cox told the Times by phone. "When I do the show, I go back to some of those old lessons, things that helped get me through certain songs."

The Bodyguard runs March 20-28 at the Straz Center. Tickets start at $40. Click here for details.

For more of Andrew Meacham's interview with Deborah Cox, click here.