The Visit (the ending/Anton's fate)

So I went back and saw The Visit a second time...

SPOILERS

So the first time I saw it Anton is strangled to death, this was like 2 weeks into previews and to be honest the staging of it was terrible.

Today i went and they totally changed it to him getting shot, but everything else is still set up the way it was before.....(its declared a heart attack, clara observes the police officer has strong hands)

My question is, when did this change occur, why wasn't anything else adjusted as its a major difference in terms of how he is killed? And for anyone thats seen it more then once which way did you think was more effective?

They probably changed it because they couldn't figure out how to stage it. In the original German text, as well as in the production I saw in German and the actually good translation of the play by Joel Agee they strangle him to death, though it's not explicit. Here's what it says in the Agee translation (It's pretty much identical to the German original). Keep in mind that Anton Schell is actually called Alfred Ill.

Ill walks slowly down into the lane of silent men. At its far end, the Gymnast stands facing him. Ill stops, turns around, sees the lane close mercilessly in on him, sinks on his knees. Without a sound, the lane turns into a cluster of bodies that swells and then slowly crouches down. Silence. Enter newspaper reporters downstage left. The lights go on.

So I suppose that means he could also have been beaten to death.

When I saw the musical he was strangled, though I didn't find it awkward. The German production I saw was incredibly strange (it made the Broadway production seem like hyper-realism) and they just kind of stood around him from what I recall and he exited the stage. I liked the musical more than the play, probably because I understood 100% of what they were saying instead of just about 50% :) but the English translation I find better dramatically than the book to the musical.

I saw it on 4/25, a couple days after opening night, and Anton was shot. I thought the shooting was very effective, and it sounds like the strangling was not, so it seems like a good change. I'm also curious about the gun's prominence in the show before the change was made.

So happy I was able to see this when I did--I fear I may have never had the chance if I'd waiting until my next trip to New York. Very much looking forward to the cast album.