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.