Paul Munafo’s ties to the Island began from a distance — a great distance. His first connection came while traveling in Southeast Asia in the early 1970s, when he spent a little over a year on a Thai junk with a family from the Vineyard. Nine years later, while living in central Florida with his first wife and their two children, the couple felt the urge to move. “I opened the atlas and thought, ‘Huh, Martha’s Vineyard. Let’s check it out.’ It was someplace different I would never, ever, have dreamed of going in a million years.” He continues, “In September 1981, we loaded everything and drove up. It was a foggy morning as we came in on the ferry. When we were getting closer to the Island, the fog started to part, and I thought, ‘Wow, this is it.’ I knew this was going to be the place.”
Munafo’s love for the Vineyard lasted; the marriage didn’t. But he soon reconnected with something that gave him great joy — theater. In 1982, while folding sheets in the laundromat, he met Steve Petruska, who was holding auditions at St. Andrew’s Church. Petruska asked Munafo if he, by chance, had any acting experience. As it turns out, he did. Some years earlier in California, on a lark and without formal training, Munafo had auditioned for a play. He had won increasingly larger roles, going from an extra to leading man. Figuring acting would be a way to meet people here, Munafo auditioned, and landed a part in the production. As it happens, that’s where he met his future wife, MJ Bruder, who was producing and casting the show. The two married in 1984, and celebrated 40 years together this past November.
Although Munafo worked in construction as a profession, performing remains a passion, and he has appeared in more than 50 productions over the years. He says of the craft, “It is a blast. I love being somebody else, and inhabiting a person who’s not me. A lot of people would think it was schizophrenic, but it’s just so fun. Whenever there are roles, I try out for them. And just because my wife runs the joint doesn’t mean I don’t have to work as hard as everybody else.”
Munafo and MJ are partners in more than marriage. She is the artistic and executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, and he is its facilities manager and master carpenter. Over the years, he has built scenery for all the productions, while also managing the care of the beautifully restored historic theater building: “It’s something we’ve devoted our lives to. She and I believe in it strongly, and think it is a great legacy to leave the community.”
It’s not just the smell of greasepaint that captures Munafo’s time. He has also long been involved in community committees. He previously worked with the Tisbury Cultural Council and the Vineyard Haven planning board. He is, however, particularly proud of his long history with the Tisbury Community Preservation committee, which he joined in 2007, and has chaired since 2010. “We’ve given away some $11 million over the time I’ve been involved to Island organizations, the town, individuals, and affordable housing. It’s a great committee. I have great members from every walk of life. At the end of the day, we agree it does good for the community.”
Munafo shares how life hasn’t always been smooth sailing. “I had a really scary experience in 2010. I had pneumonia, sepsis, and a gallbladder infection, all at once. They took one look at me at the hospital here, and put me in an ambulance to Mass General. On the ferry, I started to crash. The paramedics stopped at the Falmouth hospital. By that time, I had completely crashed. They had to bring me back to life. I lost three days. When I woke up, I realized I’d had an out-of-body experience. I’d seen myself walking up the hill toward the light. I made a conscious decision to look back from where I had walked, and I saw the ocean. I thought I wanted to be down there, so I turned around and walked back.”
He continues, “All this was four years before I got my liver transplant, which was another miracle. That was an incredible journey.” Munafo had contracted hepatitis C while in Southeast Asia. His liver had taken quite the beating, including liver cancer and cirrhosis, so he was in desperate need. “It took six attempts for me to get my transplant. At No. 4, I was rapidly losing hope. By the time No. 6 came around, I thought, ‘I can’t deal with this anymore.’ My surgeon convinced me I should come. But it was midnight in Martha’s Vineyard; how do you get to Boston right away?” Film director Doug Liman flew him there at 2:30 am. “The operation took eight hours, and for the first time in 30 years, my eyes were white. I realized how bad my life had been because of my liver disease. Now I’m stronger than I’ve been my whole life.”
Part of what Munafo is doing in the new phase of his life is stepping back from physical work. He has become a captain on the Chappy ferry for the fun of it, and drives the harbor launch for Gannon and Benjamin in the summer. And, of course, there’s the acting, which he has no intention of giving up. In fact, you can catch him singing and dancing in the upcoming high school production of “Anything Goes,” Feb. 13 through 16 at the Performing Arts Center.
I asked Munafo what gets him up in the morning: “Gratitude, because my life could have gone south. I have a great life, a loving wife, and my daughters and grandkids. I’m healthy and happy, and living my life to the fullest.”
To hear Paul Munafo recount his liver transplant experience, visit themoth.org/storytellers/paul-munafo.
