Measure of whisky needed before a theatrical production (5)
I believe the answer is:
drama
'a theatrical production' is the definition.
(a dramatic work)
'measure of whisky needed before' is the wordplay.
'measure' becomes 'mA' (mA is a kind of measure).
'of whisky' becomes 'dra' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'needed before' says to put letters next to each other.
'ma' put after 'dra' is 'DRAMA'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for drama that I've seen before include "Play; exciting situation" , "shared interest of 6 & 12 [VERDI & SHAKESPEARE]" , "Series of events involving conflicting forces" , "Stage production" , "Literary genre for the theatre" .)