Britney Spears announced on "Good Morning America" Tuesday, December 2, the dates for a tour in support of her new album, “Circus,” which also drops Tuesday. The singer’s tour is called "The Circus Starring Britney Spears," and will feature The Pussycat Dolls as an opening act. Wade Robson will supply the choreography.

It starts March 3 in New Orleans, and also includes a March 11 show at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y. The favorite subject of tabloids, Britney, who also turned 27 on Tuesday, has not toured arenas since 2004. Tickets for the Spears Circus go on sale at 11 a.m. Dec. 6. Prices range from $39.50-$125 for reserved seats and general-admission access to the floor.

As far as the actual album is concerned, “Circus” is probably one of the most human material Britney has ever recorded. There’s much less vocal processing this time around, therefore much more sincerity. This album has also given Spears her first Number 1 single, "Womanizer," since her 1998 debut. So what you give is what you get, indeed.

The title song of "Circus" splits the world between entertainers and observers, and then announces "I'm a put-on-a-show kinda girl." That show takes place onstage and off, lurching between scripted self-promotion and constant paparazzi surveillance. However the lyrics about Britney as mannequin, sex object, paparazzi victim and leather-clad mistress have grown tedious.

"Circus" puts Britney's vocals back at the center of the recording, even if they're hardly the songs' most fetching feature. When she tries to emote - as in the ode to her kids, "My Baby" - get ready to cry. Luckily, most cuts boast just enough clever hooks and snazzy beats to hold fans' attention focused. In the lyrics, Spears plays her troubled experiences of the past two years both ways. She childishly rags on the paparazzi in "Kill the Lights," then eagerly tells them "I'm ready for my close-up." She presents herself as an in-control star in the center ring of "Circus," then sings about having pass-out sex with a stranger in "Blur."

The controversial pop star, who in recent years has earned more headlines for her personal life than for her musical endeavors, will try to convince us of her never-ending talent. Spears' favorite producers helped her through, including Max Martin, Dr. Luke and Nathaniel "Danja" Hills. They have settled on a style that updates vampy show-tune melodies with sharp, metallic effects. The cartoon-like sound compensates for Spears' lack of range and lung power by allowing her to ham it up.

Even though the metaphor behind the title song of the album reminds us all of Shakespeare and his world as a stage and all the men and women merely players, what Britney is trying to prove here can’t leave us indifferent. We know she’s suffered but the fact that she keeps reminding us of that doesn’t help as much as she might think.