Britney Spears’ manager prepares to add song and scene upgrades to show

This is the sort of decision a manager faces in the Britney Spears universe: Do we keep the giant guitar? Or drop it?

Larry Rudolph, Spears’ manager in Las Vegas, must weigh such suggestions as Spears prepares to add her upcoming single, “Slumber Party,” into her “Piece of Me” groove-fest at the Axis theater at Planet Hollywood.

Rudolph, who is Spears’ primary spokesman in Las Vegas and a trusted confidant, says the new song, the third single from her latest release, “Glory,” is expected to be added to the show in the next couple of weeks.

“We still need to decide where she wants to put (the guitar), and how it will all come together,” Rudolph says. “It’s a very complicated process, with sketches, ideas, rehearsals with the dancers, the staging, the video, the lighting, that needs to be developed before it is inserted in the show. All of that is baked in, but yeah, we’ll lose one number for it.”

The song and scene is the latest in a series of upgrades this year to the lavishly staged “Piece of Me” production, which celebrates its third anniversary next month.

In the fall, Spears slid the “Glory” tracks “Do You Wanna Come Over?” and “Make Me” into the show. In February, she overhauled the show with several new numbers, including “I Love Rock and Roll,” with the familiar, oversized electric guitar ordered up by director Baz Halpin.

Away from the stage show, Spears has kept a high profile with her appearance in May during the Billboard Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena (seven songs were sampled that night, and the guitar once more was rolled to the stage). In August, she joined James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke” segment on CBS’s “The Late Late Show.”

There is a strategy to all this activity. Spears continues to advance her show and brand in the face of increasingly stiff competition on the Strip. Since she kicked off “Piece of Me” at the Axis, Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull have also filled that room with dance-driven productions with generous staging and familiar hits.

And even more fun is on the horizon: Backstreet Boys will begin an extended residency at the Axis in March, and Bruno Mars opens his extended engagement at the under-construction Park Theater at the Monte Carlo on Dec. 30. Cher follows in February, and chatter has only intensified that Lady Gaga will be added to The Park’s lineup.

“Look at what we started,” Rudolph muses.

“Here’s the reality,” says Rudolph, whose Maverick entertainment company’s client list includes Miley Cyrus, Steven Tyler, Avril Lavigne and Fifth Harmony. “When we pitched the Britney show here, we noticed a transition happening, and that was EDM was incredibly powerful and was changing the landscape in Las Vegas and gambling was becoming an ancillary thing for tourists, especially young tourists. There was an influx of younger people coming in who wanted to party.”

Even with her comparatively long career, the 34-year-old Spears still appeals to that slightly younger demographic. Her show is an exuberant celebration of masterful choreography, explosive staging and genuine star power. Spears, too, continues to issue new material as if a regular touring artist.

“We are bringing current music to the city and to the show, and we’re not talking the same way about Rod Stewart and Elton John, who are incredible, but in a different demographic,” Rudolph says. “This is a visitor that will hit the show, then hit the nightclub. My resolve was pretty strong, from the beginning that this would be the case with a contemporary superstar.”

How Spears’ sales hold up as the Strip competition intensifies next year will present a true test to her longevity as a resident headliner. But Rudolph is confident she will continue to perform a marketable show for the foreseeable future. He and his fiancee, Jen Barnet, have a home in Las Vegas and have lived here since Spears’ run at the Axis began.

Barnet, who was once Spears’ makeup stylist, co-owns the Xcycle indoor cycling boutique at Boca Park. In an inherently Vegas familial connection, Barnet’s partner in the business is Ginger Melien, wife of Live Nation executive Kurt Melien; Live Nation is the parent company of Rudolph’s Maverick operation.

“We absolutely love it here,” Rudolph says. “When I originally came here I was optimistic about the city only knowing about it as a casual tourist or visitor. But we have made some very good friends, and feel a real sense of community that I haven’t felt in New York or L.A.”

Rudolph’s analogy to those who have only visited Vegas is: “Look at Phoenix. If you were to take the Strip away from Las Vegas, throw it out, you have Phoenix. The population density, the climate, the topography, that’s what it’s like to live here … and everybody loves Phoenix.”

But absent the Strip, there would be not be the high concentration of superstar headliners in Las Vegas. There would be no “Piece of Me” show, for instance, or any of the other artists Rudolph has name-checked.

“Well,” he says, chuckling, “it’s Phoenix with benefits.”

John Katsilometes’ column runs Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday in the A section and Friday in Neon. He also hosts “Kats! On The Radio” at 8 p.m. Wednesdays on KUNV-FM, 91.5, and appears at 11 a.m. Wednesday with Dayna Roselli on KTNV-TV, Channel 13. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter and @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.