Mae, perhaps, teams with Conservative in musical (4,4,5)
I believe the answer is:
west side story
'musical' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'mae perhaps teams with conservative' is the wordplay.
'mae perhaps' becomes 'west' (actress Mae West).
'teams' becomes 'sides' (eg football sides).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'conservative' becomes 'tory' (informal term for a Conservative Party member).
'west'+'sides'+'tory'='WEST SIDE STORY'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for west side story that I've seen before include "Bernstein/Sondheim musical" , "1957 musical set in New York City" , "Version of Romeo and Juliet" , "Romeo and Juliet adaptation" , "Musical from Shakespeare play" .)