Mischief at the Mütter will be replaced with a new Halloween party
Two years after Mütter Museum's very popular fundraiser event was cancelled, a party inspired by a 1518 dancing plague is taking its place.
The Mütter Museum is bringing back its Halloween costume party, two years after canceling the popular event known as Mischief at the Mütter. This time, it’s a new themed party called Choreomania, based on a historical case of a dancing plague that struck the French city of Strasbourg in 1518.
Opening the doors for Halloween festivities this season marks a turning point for the museum, which has been in the spotlight in recent years undergoing an identity crisis of sorts.
Former director Kate Quinn, who was removed from her position in April, wanted the Mütter — globally renowned for its anatomical collection showcasing rare pathologies — to focus more on health and wellness, not death. That meant canceling film screenings and forensic exhibits in an effort to move “away from any possible perception of spectacle, oddities, or disrespect of any type for the collections in our care,” Quinn wrote to staff in 2023.
Beginning in 2014, the annual Halloween party emphasized the museum’s macabre reputation, hosting stilt walkers, contortionists, circus performers, and tarot card readers while inviting revelers to walk through its gallery of historical medical equipment and human remains. The major fundraiser frequently sold out.
Under Quinn’s tenure, the cancellation of Mischief at the Mütter was a foregone conclusion. Her administration questioned the event’s appropriateness amid an organization-wide evaluation of the ethics of displaying human remains, most of which were acquired in the late 1800s and early 1900s through autopsies and surgeries with little regard for the patients’ consent to be examined, researched, or displayed.
Now with new leaders Sara Ray, senior director of interpretation and engagement, and Erin McLeary, senior director of collections and research, the Mütter is leaning into the museum’s morbid curiosity that attracts upward of 100,000 visitors a year.
“It’s impossible to walk through our museum without thinking about spooky season things, right?” said Ray. “I understand there’s a lot of demand for stuff from us during October. I see that as a tremendous opportunity to welcome people through our doors.”
Ray said it’s not her place to judge why people come to the Mütter, but it’s her responsibility to ensure that visitors have an entertaining and educational experience.
“If you’re just coming to us because it feels natural for you in October … and we can teach you why Frankenstein is a history of science book, or how people thought about their body and medicine during the medieval period? Fantastic. I’ve sneakily taught you something,” she said.
Choreomania was Ray’s idea: Studying the history of medicine for her doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania led to some fascinating reading on a mysterious dancing mania. In 1518, hundreds of people in Strasbourg, France, began dancing uncontrollably, leading to dehydration, exhaustion, and even death. Doctors treated the condition by creating dance halls and inviting musicians. But to this day, the cause remains unknown.
Ray thought it would be a great starting point for a new kind of Halloween event that would appeal to Mischief at the Mütter fans and offer a history lesson, too. The museum based the promotional materials on a graphic novel called The Dancing Plague by U.K.-based author Gareth Brookes.
The event will take over the College of Physicians of Philadelphia building, starting at the Mütter Museum downstairs, a dance floor upstairs, and a light-and-sound installation on the ground floor. There will be a DJ as well as food and drink options available for purchase.
On-site performers will pose as humoral doctors from the Middle Ages. The costume theme is “peasant-core,” leaning more toward Renaissance Faire attire than general Halloween fare — more plague doctor, less comic book villain.
Choreomania will kick off at 7 p.m. on the eve of Halloween, Oct. 30 (also known as Mischief Night). Tickets, ranging from $45-$60, are now on sale on the Mütter Museum’s website.