Britney Spears performs on ABC's "Good Morning America" show at the Big Apple Circus in New York on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008. Could the reaction to these early gigs have caused a change in tour personnel?

Credit: AP Photo/Peter Kramer

Is Britney Spears' "Circus" tour indeed turning into a three-ring spectacle? Rolling Stone.com recently reported that the show's director Wade Robson and its lead choreographer Andre Fuentes left the tour. Robson was replaced by Jamie King, who worked has worked with Madonna, most recently on her "Sticky & Sweet Tour." Additionally, the  Spice Girls' music director, Simon Ellis, is Spears' newly named  music director.

Spears' official website (www.britneyspears.com) still lists Robson as the choreographer.

"The Circus Starring Britney Spears" tour, named after Spears'  chart-topping CD of the same name, starts March 3 in New Orleans and will be her first arena tour in five years. The Pussycat Dolls will open the 41-date. AEG-produced outing. Following strong immediate ticket sales, more dates were added with London's O2 Arena now hosting an impressive eight shows.

So what do these changes mean? As we all know, every move in Britney-ville is viewed under a microscopic lens: do these changes mean the tour's in trouble? Is Britney trying to copy her musical mentor Madonna by hiring King (the two have worked together before on the "Oops... I Did It Again" tour). Does the fact that Spears' father takes his role as his daughter's conservator very seriously and that a court has to approve major decisions have anything to do with it?

Any time a tour makes changes among the top crew personnel, it means there is, at the very least, some "creative differences" going on. However, with more than two months to go before Spears takes on New Orleans, we say regardless of what happened internally to create these shifts, there is more than enough time to work out any changes. The real heavy lifting will start in January.

The bigger question in our minds is if Spears is up to the rigors of a full-on tour. By all accounts, recording and dancing serve as a salvation for Spears and being on stage may be what she needs to continue what seems to be a successful comeback so far. At the same time, while the road often provides a needed structure and routine for some artists, for others, it is simply too much pressure--especially when they're still dealing with off-stage tumult.