Music

The biggest way in which this musical adaption differs from the original source and preceding adaptions is the inclusion of music. Burgess wrote his own songs and scores to be performed throughout the show. He cites that "each song... was strongly influenced by music-hall traditions and the music of Beethoven," purposefully producing a wittier and more playful tone (The International Anthony Burgess Foundation). See below for the text of the opening number to the show that is sung by the four droogs, as well as an image of the score. It is to the tune of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony:

"What’s it going to be then, eh?
What’s it going to be then, eh?
Tolchocking, dratsing and kicks in the yarblockos,
Thumps on the gulliver, fists in the plot.
Gromky great shooms to the bratchified millicent,
Viddy the krovvy pour out of his rot.
Ptitsas and cheenas and starry babushkas
— A crack in the kishkas real horrorshow hot.
Give it them whether they want it or not." (5).

As you can see, this opening number sets the tone of the show as a kind of dark farcical comedy, as opposed to the violent and moody tone of the novel's words, or the dark and malicious mood of the film's cinematography, design, and lighting. However, while it's certainly not my personal preference, this transformation is not bad. It's demonstrating how Burgess brilliantly altered his source to best fit the staged medium and the 80s optimistic audience. Theatregoers expect spectacle, extravaganza, and dramatization from a musical, so Burgess was doing as Barnette preaches by considering his medium and audience when writing this adaption.