Deborah Cox walks in Whitney Houston’s footsteps in ‘The Bodyguard’

The lead role in the musical “The Bodyguard” presents a couple of challenges.

One is obvious. When the musical plays the Eccles Theater Dec. 5-10, Deborah Cox will be taking on the role originated by Whitney Houston in the 1992 movie.

“I knew that I had some pretty big shoes to fill,” Cox told The Tribune. “I was a fan of the movie, so I knew that there were huge expectations that come along with this role.”

And it’s a huge role.

“When I read the script, I saw that there were 13 songs that I had to sing,” Cox said. “But once I got into the rehearsals, I saw that there are two major dance numbers and a lot of choreography. There are 17 costume changes. It’s a big show.”

It’s not just 13 songs, it’s 13 Whitney Houston songs — both from the movie (including “I Will Always Love You,” “I’m Every Woman” and “Run to You”) and not (including “Saving All My Love,” “So Emotional,” “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and “One Moment In Time”).

Every performance is the equivalent of a concert, and then there’s the narrative.

“The Bodyguard” remains the story of pop star Rachel Marron (Cox), who is being threatened by a deadly stalker — so her manager hires a Secret Service agent-turned bodyguard, Frank Farmer (Judson Mills), to protect her.

Houston fans will arrive at the Eccles Theater expecting a big voice — and they won’t be disappointed. Like Houston, Cox was originally signed to Arista by music legend Clive Davis. She’s had had 13 No. 1 hits on the dance charts. She had the lead role in the Broadway musical “Aida.”

Cox sang Houston’s hits in the Lifetime TV movie “Whitney”; Yaya DaCosta lip-synced to Cox’s vocals.

But her history with Houston is considerably more personal than that. The two teamed up on the 2000 single “Same Script, Different Cast.”

Davis wanted Houston to perform the duet. “And out of all the singers on the label, she asked to do it with me,” Cox said. “She was cool with me doing it with her.

“And I think what a lot of people don’t know or understand is that there was a real sisterhood. She had no ego. She enjoyed working with other musicians. That’s just who she was.”

(Houston died in a hotel bathtub in February 2012. The coroner ruled her death was caused by drowning and the effects of heart disease and cocaine use.)

Cox was quick to say that she is not attempting to mimic Houston’s performance in “The Bodyguard.” A live musical is different than a movie.

“The challenging part always is to find a way to tell your own story with an iconic piece that people know so well and is so beloved,” she said. “It’s scary, but I’ve always been this kind of person, this kind of artist, who takes things on that are challenging.

“And the most challenging things are the things I’m most rewarded by. So it worked out,” she said with a laugh.

It’s been a quarter of a century since the release of the Houston-Costner film, and there’s a generation of theatergoers who were born after its release.

“It’s really cool that we’ve been able to bring this to a whole new audience,” Cox said. “People in their early 20s — a lot of them have not seen the film, which is surprising to me, too.”

She recalled meeting a mother and daughter who came to see “The Bodyguard” in St. Louis.

“They came to the show for different reasons. The mother because she was a huge fan of Whitney, and she was a huge fan of ‘The Bodyguard,‘” Cox said. “And the daughter was a huge fan of mine and had never seen ‘The Bodyguard.’”

And that’s the sort of thing she finds very encouraging, performing day after day in city after city.

“It’s a lot of work, but it’s a very rewarding show,” Cox said. “When you see the audience at the end of the show, it inspires you and it lifts you.”