Operatic heroine wants no cat skinned outside room (5)
I believe the answer is:
norma
'operatic heroine' is the definition.
(Norma is an opera by Vincenzo Bellini)
'no cat skinned outside room' is the wordplay.
'skinned' says to take the centre.
'outside' means one lot of letters goes inside another (some letters go outside others).
'room' becomes 'rm' (abbreviation for room).
The centre of 'cat' is 'a'.
'no'+'a'='noa'
'noa' enclosing 'rm' is 'NORMA'.
'wants' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for norma that I've seen before include "Game; shared supply" , "- - Jean Baker: Marilyn Monroe" , "small group of stars" , "John Major's wife - Bellini opera" , "Bellini's heroine" .)