COUNT Dracula is changing residence.

   Roxey Ballet is transporting its original interpretation of Dracula from its Lambertville studio to the crypt beneath Trenton’s Trinity Cathedral Oct. 23 and 24.

   The re-staging is “quite spectacular,” says Mark Roxey, co-founder and artistic director of Roxey Ballet. “It’s about looking at the crypt as the place where Dracula actually lived. It’s really a complete adjusting of the ballet to fit into their space.”

   Trinity’s cavernous crypt is defined by soaring pillars designed to hold hundreds of tons of material. A large sandstone altar occupies the sanctuary area, surrounded by stained glass windows.

   ”Most people think it’s a creepy place,” says Bernard McMullan, a church volunteer who helped bring Roxey to Trinity. “The temperature is different, the air is different. I think that (audiences) will hear the echoes of the crypt. They’ll know it has been used as a place for interment.”

   Two of Trinity’s former deans are indeed interred there, he says. Historically crypts are located in church basements and used as either chapels or burial vaults. Trinity’s crypt was built in 1937 with a grant from the Roebling family, according to Mr. McMullan. “It’s the same size as the cathedral, 25-feet below grade, and it served as the cathedral while the structure above was being completed,” he says.

   Unlike most people, Mr. McMullan, who is Trinity’s chairman of grounds, a member of the choir and a co-producer of the Cathedral Arts Series at Trinity, doesn’t find the space creepy.

   ”It’s a beautiful space,” he says. “You’re always amazed by how pretty it is. It has these massive walls, made out of all stone that are beautifully carved. It’s one of the great unused spaces in Mercer County.” In the 1990s youth ministries added a basketball court to the crypt, which remains, and organizations use it to host dinners or after-school programs.

   Transferring the show to the crypt, Roxey will amend the set to fit and accentuate the space. “It will change and compliment the performance because you’re putting it into a space that is totally unorthodox,” Mr. Roxey says. “It offers a 3D interactive experience, unlike a theater where there’s no intimacy. The performers will be all around the audience, making it very sensory.”

   Mr. Roxey was at first apprehensive about the collaboration, but, he says, “The ballet is always up for a challenge.”

   His company’s Dracula follows the original story by Bram Stoker, who wrote the novel Dracula in 1897. Stoker’s villain harasses his solicitor, Jonathan Harker, before moving from Transylvania to London, where he bites Harker’s friend Lucy, turning her into a vampire. Then, in the pursuit of more human flesh, Dracula finds himself embattled with Dr. Abraham Van Helsing.

   Mr. McMullan attended a performance of Roxey’s Dracula last year in the Lambertville studio. “It was absolutely outstanding,” he says. “It’s very austere in some ways. It really faithfully tells the story that Stoker wrote.” The themes of science versus faith, tradition versus modernity, and evil versus good will play well in the crypt, he adds.

   ”The story has all the elements of great theater,” Mr. Roxey says. “It’s about redemption and passion and lust and love and the power of the cross. It’s a classic, one I grew up with.”

   Mr. Roxey recalls growing up in New York and watching a television show called Chiller Theater that showed the Dracula movies of Bela Lugosi and Frank Langella, as well as other classic monsters like Frankenstien, Godzilla and the Loch Ness Monster.

   Mr. Roxey and Melissa Roxey began their company as the Hunterdon Youth Ballet in 1995. During their careers the professional dancers had been associated with the Joffrey Ballet, American Repertory Ballet and Dayton Ballet. As the company grew, they changed their name to reflect their expanding diversity.

   Mr. Roxey, who choreographed the ballet, thought Dracula’s story would be “a natural ballet to do, to tweak it and modify it for dance audiences,” he says. “I had to take the story idea and rewrite the whole thing so it would fit into a dance performance. You start with the basic concept and then bring them to life through the movements. It’s very sensory.”

   David Honnoman created the original music, sound effects and multimedia projections for the ballet. “We call it a total theater production,” Mr. Roxey says. “It’s like a haunted house.”

   Roxey Ballet first performed Dracula in 2003. It’s “one of our old time classics,” says Mr. Roxey, who has performed in the lead role. Marc St. Pierre is reprising the role of Dracula and Julia Cobble plays Lucy, Dracula’s first victim upon moving to London. Stoker characterizes Lucy as angel-like in purity and beauty. Despite being bloodthirsty, Stoker’s Dracula is cordial, charming and intelligent.

   ”Dracula naturally has to be extremely strong as a dancer,” Mr. Roxey says. “So the most important element is that he has to be physically capable. Dracula also must be handsome yet monstrous.”

   These special performances are part of the Cathedral Arts Series at Trinity, which brings primarily music events to the church and are performed in the main cathedral. The series began around 25 years ago and now hosts 10 events a year, though the number grows when outside productions like Dracula are included.

   Inviting a ballet into the space is “sort of a stretch” for Trinity, Mr. McMullan says, but he hopes the new venture will create opportunities for future events and collaborations. “I hope that people see the opportunity here,” he says.

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  Dracula will be performed by the Roxey Ballet in the crypt of Trinity Cathedral, 801 W. State St., Trenton, Oct. 23, 8 p.m., midnight, Oct. 24, 4, 8 p.m. Tickets cost $25 (except for Oct 24, 8 p.m., which costs $30); 609-397-7616; www.roxeyballet.com; www.trinitycathedral.org/tickets.html